Supreme Court Issues Decision on EEOC Conciliation in Mach Mining

On April 29, 2015, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in Mach Mining, LLC v. EEOC, No. 13-1019, 575 U.S. __, 2015 U.S. Lexis 2984. In Mach Mining, the Court considered whether federal courts have the authority to review the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (“EEOC’s”) compliance with its statutory obligation to attempt conciliation before filing suit. The Court held that federal courts have the authority to review the EEOC’s efforts, but that this review must be narrow: courts are authorized to review only whether the EEOC gave the employer adequate notice of its findings and an opportunity to discuss conciliation. The decision does not provide employers with a basis to challenge the EEOC’s conciliation efforts on the ground that, having provided the opportunity to discuss settlement, the EEOC then failed to engage in settlement discussions in good faith.

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