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Appeals Court Denies Sterling’s Petition
The U.S. Court of the Appeals for the Second Circuit decided this week that it will not review the decision that revived the EEOC’s nationwide gender bias suit against Sterling Jewelers.
New York--A U.S. appeals court decided this week that it will not review the decision made by three of its judges that revived the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s nationwide gender bias suit against Sterling Jewelers Inc.
In a one-page decision issued Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied Sterling’s request for rehearing by the three-judge panel, or, alternately, an en banc review (one heard by all judges). The order provided no explanation for the court’s decision.
When contacted Wednesday, both the EEOC and Sterling said it is their general policy not to comment on legal matters.
Sterling, however, has maintained throughout the case that the EEOC’s allegations of pay and promotion discrimination lodged against it were taken seriously, investigated thoroughly and are not substantiated by the facts.
The allegations “do not reflect the culture of our company,” the retailer said.
The EEOC filed its lawsuit against Sterling in September 2008 under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employers from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin.
Filed on behalf of some 44,000 female employees, the suit alleges that Sterling paid women less and passed them over for promotions in favor of less-qualified male employees.
Since its filing seven years ago, the case has been dismissed by both a federal and a magistrate judge on grounds that the EEOC did not conduct a thorough enough investigation to warrant it filing a nationwide discrimination lawsuit against the specialty jeweler.
But it was brought back to life this past fall, when the appeals court overturned those decisions and sent the case back down to the district court level for further proceedings.
Neither the EEOC nor Sterling would comment on next steps in the case on Wednesday.
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