Briefing For The Big Bucks: CRST Asks U.S. Supreme Court For Attorneys' Fees From The EEOC

EEOC v. CRST Van Expedited, Inc. is a key case for all employers.

We have been tracking the developments ( here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here) in this case since its inception. Now it has reached the U.S. Supreme Court on the issue of whether attorneys' fees are appropriate in instances where the EEOC failed to satisfy its pre-suit investigation duties under Title VII, but the employer was not victorious "on the merits." In EEOC v. CRST Van Expedited, Inc., 774 F.3d 1169 (8th Cir. 2014), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed and remanded a nearly $4.7 million award of attorneys' fees - the largest fee sanction ever levied against the Commission - to the employer, CRST, finding that the District Court's dismissal of 67 claims based on the EEOC's failure to satisfy Title VII's pre-suit obligations did not constitute a ruling on the merits, and therefore the employer was not a "prevailing party" entitled to a fee award as to those claims. On remand, the District Court was instructed to individually assess each claim for which it granted summary judgment for CRST on the merits and explain why it deemed that particular claim to be frivolous, groundless, or unreasonable.

Following the decision, CRST petitioned for a rehearing en banc, which was denied on February 20, 2015. Thereafter, CRST petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for certiorari, which was granted on December 4, 2015. On January 19, 2016, CRST submitted its merits brief, which presented the following question to the Supreme Court: whether a dismissal of a Title VII case, based on the EEOC's total failure to satisfy its pre-suit investigation, reasonable cause, and conciliation obligations, can form the basis of an attorneys' fee award to the defendant under 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(k).

On January 26, 2016, the Equal Employment Advisory Council, National Federation of Independent Business, and Small Business Legal Center filed an amici brief in support of CRST. Others filing amicus briefs in support of CRST included Americans for Forfeiture Reform ( here); Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, LLC and Tracker Marine Retail, LLC ( here); and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, American Trucking Associations, Inc., and Business Roundtable ( here).

Hence, the stage is set for what may well be one of the most important rulings on EEOC litigation in memory.

The Context And The Stakes

On September 27, 2007, the EEOC filed a single count complaint against CRST under Section...