00-1072 Edelman v. Lynchburg College

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Although the verification provision is meant to forestall catchpenny claims of disgruntled but not necessarily aggrieved employees, Congress presumably did not mean to affect Title VII’s nature as a remedial scheme in which laypersons, rather than lawyers, are expected to initiate the process, see, e.g., EEOC v. Commercial Office Products Co., 486 U.S. 107, 124. Construing sec. 706 to permit the relation back of an oath omitted from an original filing ensures that the lay complainant, who may not know enough to verify on filing, will not risk forfeiting his rights inadvertently. At the same time, the EEOC looks out for the employer’s interest by refusing to call for any response to an otherwise sufficient complaint until the verification has been supplied. This Court would be hard pressed to take issue with the EEOC’s position after deciding, in Becker v. Montgomery, 532 U.S. 757, 765, that a failure to comply with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11’s signature requirement did not require dismissal of a timely filed but unsigned notice of appeal because nothing prevented later cure of the signature defect. There is no reason to think that relation back of the oath here is any less reasonable than relation back of the signature in Becker. In fact, it would be passing strange to disagree with the EEOC even without Becker, for a long history of judicial practice with oath requirements supports the relation-back cure. Moreover, the legislative history indicates that Congress amended Title VII several times without once casting doubt on the EEOC’s construction.

228 F.3d 503, reversed and remanded.

Local effect:

The decision is consistent with the law in the Seventh Circuit, Philbin v. General Electric Capital Auto Lease, Inc. 929 F.2d 321 (7th Cir. 1991).

Souter, J.; Thomas, J., concurring. O’Connor, J., concurring.