The U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 4 agreed to hear an appeal by CRST Van Expedited Inc. that claimed the Iowa-based motor carrier was entitled to a $4.7 million award in a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
CRST sought the high court’s review of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' reversal of the award of fees and costs it won after the company said it prevailed in the sexual harassment class action.
EEOC sought classwide injunctive relief, punitive and compensatory damages for a large number of female drivers.
A federal district court granted summary judgment for CRST, in part because EEOC had failed to engage in any form of “pre-suit investigation, reasonable cause determination or conciliation extending beyond the claims of just two alleged victims.”
The 8th Circuit affirmed the grant of summary judgment, agreeing that EEOC had “wholly failed” to satisfy its pre-suit obligations. However, the 8th Circuit held that fees were precluded in that situation because the victory was not sufficiently “on the merits.”
In its May 19 petition for a writ of certiorari, CRST said the court should grant the petition because the 8th Circuit’s ruling conflicts with the rulings applied in at least three other circuits.
“The 8th Circuit’s holding that CRST is not a prevailing party for purposes of an attorney’s fee award conflicts directly with decisions of the 4th, 9th, and 11th circuits,” CRST said. “If this case had been litigated in the 4th, 9th, or 11th circuits, the district court’s award of fees and costs to CRST would have been affirmed.”
In its 2007 lawsuit, EEOC alleged that many female drivers employed by CRST, a longhaul trucking firm, had experienced sexual harassment on the job and that the company had violated federal law by tolerating the behavior.
