Background
Former employees of RTX Corporation sued the company in the District of Arizona in September two thousand twenty-two, alleging religious discrimination regarding pandemic-era mask and vaccination policies. The Arizona court dismissed individual claims and denied class certification as moot. After the Ninth Circuit affirmed that dismissal and the Supreme Court denied certiorari, the plaintiffs filed a nearly identical suit in the Eastern District of Virginia in November two thousand twenty-four, adding three new plaintiffs. The district court dismissed the new suit, holding that the claims were barred by res judicata and, alternatively, were time-barred because they were filed more than ninety days after the plaintiffs received their right to sue letters.
The court’s reasoning
The court explained that under Title VII, a plaintiff must receive a right to sue letter from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and file suit within ninety days. The plaintiffs argued that the American Pipe rule, which tolls the statute of limitations during the pendency of a class action, should apply through the appeal process. The court disagreed, noting that every circuit to address the issue has held that American Pipe tolling ends when class certification is denied. The court found that the Arizona district court denied class certification on February twenty-seventh, two thousand twenty-three. Consequently, the statute of limitations resumed for all plaintiffs at that time. Since the plaintiffs filed their Virginia action on November twentieth, two thousand twenty-four, well past the ninety-day deadline, the claims were untimely.
What it means going forward
Employers and plaintiffs now have clarity that the American Pipe tolling exception for class actions does not extend the filing deadline for individual claims through the appellate process. This decision reinforces the strict ninety-day filing window for Title VII claims after a right to sue letter is issued or class certification is denied.