Weber v. United States

71 Fed. Cl. 717, 2006 U.S. Claims LEXIS 192, 88 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 42,504, 98 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1059, 2006 WL 1892662
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedJuly 11, 2006
DocketNo. 05-1290C
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 71 Fed. Cl. 717 (Weber v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Weber v. United States, 71 Fed. Cl. 717, 2006 U.S. Claims LEXIS 192, 88 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 42,504, 98 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1059, 2006 WL 1892662 (uscfc 2006).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

LETTOW, Judge.

This equal pay case was transferred to the court from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (“district court”). The plaintiff, Enid W. Weber, alleges that the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) engaged in gender discrimination and violated the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Pub.L. No. 88-38, § 3, 77 Stat. 56, 56-57 [718]*718(codified in relevant part at 29 U.S.C. § 206(d)). In her first of two claims, Ms. Weber contends that the NLRB failed to provide equal pay for equal work while she performed the duties of a Deputy Executive Secretary in the Office of the Executive Secretary from 1995 to 1998, compared to males who performed the same or similar duties. As a second claim, Ms. Weber asserts that the NLRB did not provide equal pay for equal work in her subsequent temporary assignment as Special Assistant to the Chairman during a five-month period in 1998. Respecting both claims, Ms. Weber avers that the NLRB’s actions were willful.

Ms. Weber initially filed her complaint pro se in the district court on April 19, 2001, alleging that the NLRB had violated both the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Pub.L. No. 88-352, Tit. VII, §§ 701-16, 78 Stat. 241, 253-66 (codified, as amended, at 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e to 2000e-17) (“Title VII”). In two separate opinions, the district court dismissed or granted summary judgment in defendant’s favor on all of Ms. Weber’s claims except those arising under the Equal Pay Act, which claims the district court transferred to this court. See Weber v. Hurtgen, 297 F.Supp.2d 58, 62 (D.D.C.2003); Memorandum and Opinion, Weber v. Hurtgen, Civil Case No. 01-CV-00862 (RJL) (D.D.C. Mar. 17, 2005). Ms. Weber thereafter filed an amended complaint pro se in this court on December 28, 2005, and subsequently retained counsel to represent her. See Order of May 11, 2006 (granting substitution of counsel).

At this juncture, the case comes before the court on the government’s motion for partial dismissal. The government argues that part of Ms. Weber’s first claim is barred by the statute of limitations applicable to the Equal Pay Act. Specifically, the government avers that under the three-year statute of limitations pertinent to willful violations of the Equal Pay Act, 29 U.S.C. § 255(a), this court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over that portion of Ms. Weber’s first claim that accrued more than three years from the date she initially filed her complaint in the district court, i.e., April 19, 1998. A hearing on the government’s motion was held on June 7, 2006. For the reasons set forth below, the government’s motion for partial dismissal is granted.1

BACKGROUND2

Ms. Weber, a Hispanic woman, has worked continuously at the NLRB since 1971. Weber, 297 F.Supp.2d at 60. In 1975, she was promoted to Associate Executive Secretary at Federal General Schedule (“GS”) pay grade 13,3 see Plaintiffs Opposition to Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss (“Pl.’s Opp.”) at 2, and since 1989, Ms. Weber has held the position of Associate Executive Secretary to the Chairman with a corresponding GS-15 pay designation. Id.; Weber, 297 F.Supp.2d at 61.

In April 1980, Ms. Weber filed suit against the NLRB pursuant to the Equal Pay Act and Title VII alleging that “she had not received pay equal to her male co-workers in similarly situated positions.” Pl.’s Opp. at 2. The following year, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) concluded that the NLRB was in violation of the Equal Pay Act, and eleven years later the District Court for the District of Columbia entered an order finally resolving those claims. Id.; Compl. ¶¶ 15-16; Weber, 297 F.Supp.2d at 61.

[719]*719From April 21, 1995 to April 20, 1998, Ms. Weber avers that she performed the duties of a Deputy Executive Secretary while serving as an Associate Executive Secretary to the Chairman. Pl.’s Opp. at 2.4 During that same period, the NLRB did not have a Deputy Executive Secretary or an Acting Deputy Executive Secretary. Compl. ¶ 10. Thereafter, from April 21, 1998 through September 20, 1998, Ms. Weber was temporarily assigned to the Office of the Chairman as a Special Assistant to the Chairman. Id. ¶ 20.5 During both time periods, Ms. Weber alleges that she was paid less than similarly-situated males who performed the same or similar work. Pl.’s Opp. at 2.

Beginning on September 8,1997, Ms. Weber informally raised her concerns with respect to her pay with the EEO office at the NLRB, and from 1998 through 2000 she submitted various memoranda delineating the duties she performed in her various positions. Compl. ¶¶ 29-34. On January 11, 1999, the EEO office of the NLRB notified Ms. Weber of her right to file a discrimination complaint. Defendant’s Motion for Partial Dismissal (“Def.’s Mot.”) Ex. 1 (EEO Counselor’s Report (Mar. 1,1999)). Thereafter, on January 22,1999, Ms. Weber filed her formal administrative EEO complaint with the agency, alleging that the NLRB failed “to comply with the Equal Pay Act and [engaged in] discrimination and retaliation within the meaning of Title VII.” See Compl. ¶ 1. On January 12, 2001, the NLRB issued Ms. Weber a “Right to Sue” letter. Id. ¶2.

On April 19, 2001, Ms. Weber filed her complaint pro se in the district court, “arguing that her rights under the E[qual Pay Act] were violated when, because of her gender, she was denied equal pay for equal work from April 21, 1995, to April 20, 1998, and from April 21, 1998, to September 21, 1998.” Weber, 297 F.Supp.2d at 61. In her complaint in the district court, Ms. Weber also included allegations that the NLRB had violated Title VII through various acts of gender and national-origin discrimination and retaliation. Id. On September 14, 2001, Mr. Hurtgen, the NLRB Chairman and named defendant in the case, filed a motion to dismiss, or in the alternative, for summary judgment. Id. Ms. Weber thereafter filed a cross-motion for summary judgment. Id.

The district court, in its first of two opinions in the case, ordered Ms. Weber’s claims under the Equal Pay Act transferred to the Court of Federal Claims on the ground that the district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction of those claims under the “Little Tucker Act.” Weber, 297 F.Supp.2d at 62 (noting that Ms. Weber’s request for damages with respect to her EPA claims “greatly exceeds $10,000”); see 28 U.S.C. § 1346(a)(2).6 With respect to Ms. Weber’s Title VII claims, the district court denied Ms. Weber’s cross-motion for summary judgment, granted the defendant’s motion for summary judgment in part, and invited the defendant to file a renewed motion for summary judgment on the remaining Title VII [720]*720claims. Weber, 297 F.Supp.2d at 69.7 The district court subsequently denied Ms. Weber’s motion for reconsideration of the court’s decision denying her motion for summary judgment.

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71 Fed. Cl. 717, 2006 U.S. Claims LEXIS 192, 88 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 42,504, 98 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1059, 2006 WL 1892662, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/weber-v-united-states-uscfc-2006.