FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Terry O’Neill
Executive Director
(415) 296-7629
toneill@nelahq.org

NELA Lauds U.S. Supreme Court Decision Protecting Workers’ Access To Justice

(Oakland, CA) – The National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA) and The Employee Rights Advocacy Institute for Law & Policy (The NELA Institute) are thrilled with the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous decision today in Fort Bend County, Texas v. Davis. In holding that Title VII’s charge-filing requirement is not jurisdictional, the Court is ensuring that workers with valid claims will not be denied access to justice because they failed to check a box on a form. Moreover, unscrupulous employers will not be able to delay or wholly avoid accountability late into a lawsuit based on a technicality in the filing paperwork. We congratulate Lois Davis, the plaintiff in the case, and her attorneys at Wright Close & Barger in their important victory for all workers.

NELA and The NELA Institute filed a brief as amici curiae in the case. We express our deep appreciation to Michael L. Foreman and the Penn State Law Civil Rights Appellate Clinic, who served as principal drafters of the brief. Today’s result will help ensure that a harmed employee who has suffered discrimination in the workplace will rightly be permitted to have their day in court.

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The National Employment Lawyers Association advances employee rights and serves lawyers who advocate for equality and justice in the American workplace. NELA provides assistance and support to lawyers in protecting the rights of employees against the greater resources of their employers and the defense bar. It is the country’s largest professional organization exclusively comprised of lawyers who represent individual employees in cases involving employment discrimination and other employment-related matters. NELA and its 69 circuit, state, and local affiliates have more than 4,000 members around the country.