The U.S. Supreme Court on April 30 released its opinion in Mach Mining, LLC v. EEOC, stating that federal courts had the authority to review whether the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) fulfilled its duty to conciliate, but that the scope of review was limited to enforcing only the EEOC’s statutory obligation to give the employer notice of the charge and an opportunity to achieve voluntary compliance. The obligation is set forth in Title VII, requiring the EEOC to “endeavor to eliminate [the] alleged unlawful employment practice by informational methods of conference, conciliation, and persuasion.”

The case arose when a female applicant to Mach Mining alleged that she was denied a position as a coal miner because of her sex. The EEOC investigated the complaint and determined that there was reasonable cause to believe that Mach Mining had discriminated against the applicant as well as other female applicants. The EEOC then sent a letter to Mach Mining, announcing the EEOC’s determination and inviting Mach Mining to participate in an informal dispute resolution process. The parties had no further contact for nearly a year until the EEOC finally sent a second letter to Mach Mining stating that the conciliation efforts were unsuccessful. Thereafter, the EEOC sued Mach Mining for sex discrimination.

Mach Mining argued that the EEOC had failed to conciliate in good faith as required by law. The EEOC responded that its conciliation efforts were not subject to judicial review. The Seventh Circuit agreed with the EEOC and Mach Mining appealed.

In overturning the Seventh Circuit’s ruling, the Supreme Court stated that, in order to comply with the conciliation provision, the EEOC must inform an employer about the specific discrimination allegation by describing what the employer has done and what the employee(s) has suffered. The EEOC must also try to engage the employer in a discussion in order to give the employer the chance to remedy the discrimination. The Court opined that a simple, sworn affidavit from the EEOC stating that it complied with the conciliation requirement would satisfy its obligation. In the event an employer submits credible evidence that the EEOC has not satisfied its duty, the court must conduct fact finding to determine this limited dispute. If the employer wins this dispute, the appropriate remedy would be to order the EEOC to undertake its mandated duty.