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REED v. COGNIZANT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS (2021)

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.2021-06-01No. No. 20-16379

Summary

Holding. The court affirmed the district court's dismissal of Reed's Title VII action because she failed to file her lawsuit within the required 90-day period and did not establish grounds for equitable tolling.

Yvonne Reed brought a Title VII employment discrimination lawsuit against Cognizant Technology Solutions, but the district court dismissed her case as time-barred. Reed appealed the dismissal on her own behalf. Under Title VII, a person receiving a notice of right to sue must file their civil action within 90 days. The district court found that Reed filed her lawsuit after this deadline had passed and that she had not demonstrated any extraordinary circumstances beyond her control that would justify an exception to the time limit through equitable tolling.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

  • Whether Reed's Title VII action was timely filed under the 90-day statute of limitations
  • Whether extraordinary circumstances warranted equitable tolling of the filing deadline

Procedural posture

Reed appealed pro se from the district court's order dismissing her Title VII employment discrimination complaint for failure to comply with the filing deadline.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion

MEMORANDUM **

Yvonne Reed appeals pro se from the district courts order dismissing her Title VII employment discrimination action. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review de novo. Dougherty v. City of Covina, 654 F.3d 892, 897 (9th Cir. 2011) (dismissal under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6)); ODonnell v. Vencor Inc., 466 F.3d 1104, 1109 (9th Cir. 2006) (dismissal on the basis of the applicable statute of limitations). We affirm.

The district court properly dismissed Reeds action as time-barred because Reed filed this action after the applicable statute of limitations had run and failed to show extraordinary circumstances beyond her control that justified equitable tolling. See 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f)(1) (setting forth 90-day period in which Title VII complainant may bring a civil action); Payan v. Aramark Mgmt. Servs. Ltd. Pship, 495 F.3d 1119, 1121-22 (9th Cir. 2007) (90-day period operates as a limitations period; if a litigant does not file suit within 90 days of receipt of the notice of right to sue, the action is time-barred); Stoll v. Runyon, 165 F.3d 1238, 1242 (9th Cir. 1999) (explaining that equitable tolling is warranted “when extraordinary circumstances beyond the plaintiffs control made it impossible to file a claim on time”).

AFFIRMED.