The Supreme Court of Missouri just made it more difficult for employers to defeat employment discrimination claims on the basis of untimely administrative complaints. In Missouri, complainants have 180 days from the date of the alleged unlawful conduct to file a complaint with the Missouri Commission on Human Rights (“MCHR”) in order to pursue claims under the Missouri Human Rights Act (“MHRA”). They have 300 days to file a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") in order to maintain claims under federal law. In a case called Farrow v. Saint Francis Medical Center, a terminated employee filed her MCHR complaint 230 days after her discharge, so it was untimely for state law claims, but her subsequent EEOC charge was timely for federal claims. Because the federal agency (the EEOC) took the lead on investigating the claims, the state agency (the MCHR) never asked the employer for a response, and the untimeliness of the MCHR complaint was never raised. The EEOC ultimately issued a right-to-sue letter, and then the MCHR did too based on the EEOC’s closure of the investigation.
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