EEOC Ordered To Pay $1.9 Million For Frivolous Claims Against Trucking Company

Seyfarth Synopsis: In the latest chapter of the ongoing legal battle between the EEOC and delivery company CRST Van Expedited regarding the agency's sexual harassment claims, a federal district court ordered the EEOC to pay $1.9 million in attorneys' fees to the company for pursuing claims that it knew or should have known were frivolous.

Employers should have this ruling handy when challenging whether the EEOC fulfilled its pre-suit obligations under Title VII. It is undoubtedly a signal ruling relative to the agency's missteps in "suing now and aiming later..."

In a long and winding legal journey that made a pit stop at the U.S. Supreme Court, the EEOC v. v. CRST Van Expedited, Inc., No. 07-CV-95, 2017 LEXIS 155134 (N.D. Iowa Sept. 22, 2017), litigation involves the largest fee sanction award ever levied against the EEOC - nearly $4.7 million. In August 2013, after the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa imposed the nearly $4.7 million award, the EEOC appealed, and the Eighth Circuit reversed and remanded several fee issues for further proceedings. Id. at *2. Following CRST's appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed and remanded the Eighth Circuit's ruling. On remand, the Eighth Circuit vacated its prior judgment and remanded back to the District Court. Thereafter, CRST moved for a supplemental fee award in the amount of approximately $975,000, consisting of attorneys' fees for work performed in the case following the District Court's August 1, 2013 Order. Judge Linda R. Reade of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa ordered the EEOC to pay approximately $1.9 million in attorneys' fees, out-of-pocket expenses and taxable costs to CRST, but denied CRST's motion for a supplemental fee award.

For employers embroiled in EEOC litigation, the $1.9 million fee award is an exceedingly important example of a court holding the Commission accountable when it fails to satisfy its pre-suit investigation duties under Title VII.

Case Background

As we discussed in our blog post here, Section 706(k) authorizes district courts to award attorneys' fees to the "prevailing party" in a Title VII case. In relevant part, Christiansburg Garment Co. v. EEOC, 434 U.S. 412, 421 (1978) held that fee awards to a prevailing defendant are permissible only if the plaintiff's lawsuit was "frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation." After CRST successfully obtained the dismissal of the EEOC's Title VII claims for sexual harassment...