Artis v. Bernanke, No. 09-5121

Action Claiming Discrimination by Federal Reserve Board

In Artis v. Bernanke, No. 09-5121, a putative class action by members of a putative class of secretaries employed by the Federal Reserve Board, claiming that the Board systematically discriminated against them on account of their race, the court vacated the dismissal of the complaint for failure to exhaust administrative remedies where plaintiffs completed informal counseling in a manner sufficient to give the Board an opportunity to investigate their claims.

As the court wrote:  "Appellants are members of a putative class of secretaries employed currently and formerly by the Federal Reserve Board. They claim the Board systematically discriminated against them on account of their race in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. The district court dismissed the complaint for failure to exhaust administrative remedies. Because we conclude the secretaries completed informal counseling in a manner sufficient to give the Board an opportunity to investigate their claims, we vacate the district court's dismissal of their complaint."

Related Resources

• Read the DC Circuit's Decision in Artis v. Bernanke, No. 09-5121