Court Rules That Employee's Submission Of Discrimination Complaint Through DFEH's Online System Is Sufficient To Meet Jurisdictional Prerequisite For Filing FEHA Lawsuit
In the published portion of its recent decision in Rickards v. United Parcel Service, Inc., Case No. B234192 (filed June 19, 2012), the California Court of Appeal held that a complaining employee can satisfy the jurisdictional prerequisites for filing a lawsuit under the Fair Employment and Housing Act ("FEHA") by simply submitting a complaint through the Department of Fair Employment and Housing's ("DFEH") online automated system.
In Rickards, the complaining employee, George Rickards, brought suit against his former employer, United Parcel Service, Inc. ("UPS"), alleging six causes of action under FEHA for discrimination, harassment, and retaliation based on disability and age. Prior to filing the lawsuit, in February 2010 (less than one year after the alleged discriminatory conduct occurred), Rickards' attorney filed a FEHA complaint on Rickards' behalf through DFEH's automated on line system. The system required that the information be verified under penalty of perjury but did not require an actual signature. Rickards' attorney clicked the "CONTINUE" prompt on a screen containing a declaration under penalty of perjury about the truth of the complaint he was submitting. DFEH's automated system then issued an automatic right-to-sue letter. At his deposition, Rickards had testified that he did not know anything about the DFEH complaint. But, in declarations submitted thereafter, Rickards and his attorney averred that the attorney was authorized to file the DFEH complaint on Rickards' behalf. Thereafter, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of UPS, on the ground that Rickards' failure to file a verified DFEH complaint was a jurisdictional defect.
The Court of Appeal reversed the trial court's summary judgment ruling. Relying on Blum v. Superior Court, 141 Cal. App. 4th 418, 422 (2006), the Court of Appeal concluded that Rickards' DFEH complaint was properly verified under the circumstances. In Blum, the court approved the practice of attorney verification of a DFEH complaint for a client, so long as the attorney signs the complaint with...
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