In The Wall Street Journal, Chuck Knapp Says Supreme Court Decision Provides Faint Hope to Employers Targeted by the EEOC

The U.S. Supreme Court decided Mach Mining, LLC v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on April 29, 2015. The decision ruled that courts have some, albeit limited, power to review the EEOC’s conduct in its conciliation process. In other words, if the EEOC sues an employer for alleged discrimination and the employer claims they were not given fair warning, the Supreme Court says courts may intervene by giving the EEOC a “do-over,” but they cannot throw the complaint out entirely.

Chuck Knapp, partner and leader of Faegre Baker Daniels’ employment litigation team, told the Wall Street Journal that while dim, this ruling offers some hope for employers facing discrimination allegations. Knapp said that the minimal review rights granted to courts could “provide hope to employers who are trying to rein in the EEOC from bringing litigation that goes beyond what they tried to resolve in the administrative phase."