EEOC v. CVS (CVS Motion To Dismiss)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

EASTERN DIVISION
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
COMMISSION,
Plaintiff,
v.
CVS PHARMACY, INC.,

Defendant.

No. 1:14-CV-863-JWD

MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT

MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF
DEFENDANTS MOTION TO DISMISS OR,
IN THE ALTERNATIVE, FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Eric Dreiband
Yaakov Roth
JONES DAY
51 Louisiana Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20001-2113
Telephone: (202) 879-3939
Facsimile: (202) 626-1700

Counsel for CVS Pharmacy, Inc.
Case: 1:14-cv-00863 Document #: 16 Filed: 04/18/14 Page 1 of 29 PageID #:37
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
i

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES ......................................................................................................... ii
INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 1
FACTUAL BACKGROUND ........................................................................................................ 2
ARGUMENT ................................................................................................................................. 4
I. CVS PHARMACYS SEVERANCE AGREEMENT DOES NOT INTERFERE
WITH FORMER EMPLOYEES ABILITY TO FILE EEOC CHARGES OR TO
COOPERATE WITH THE EEOC .................................................................................... 4
II. MERE INCLUSION OF CONTRACTUAL TERMS IN A SEVERANCE
AGREEMENT DOES NOT VIOLATE ANY PART OF TITLE VII .............................. 8
A. The Complaint Does Not and Cannot Allege Any Unlawful
Discrimination or Retaliation Under Title VII ....................................................... 9
B. Without Unlawful Discrimination or Retaliation, No Pattern or Practice
Action Can Be Alleged, and the EEOCs Claim Therefore Fails ........................ 11
C. The EEOCs Unprecedented Theory Would Turn Pattern or Practice
Authority into a Blank Check for the Agency ..................................................... 14
D. At Minimum, Any Section 707 Action Would Require Intentional
Interference, Which the EEOC Has Not Plausibly Alleged and Cannot
Show .................................................................................................................... 15
III. THE EEOC VIOLATED TITLE VII AND ITS OWN REGULATIONS WHEN
IT FILED THE COMPLAINT WITHOUT FIRST ATTEMPTING TO
CONCILIATE .................................................................................................................. 16
A. The EEOC Must Endeavor To Conciliate Claims in a Confidential Manner
Before Filing a Lawsuit, But Here the EEOC Flatly Refused To Do So ............. 16
B. Title VII, Forty Years of Unanimous Jurisprudence, and the EEOCs Own
Regulations Demonstrate That the EEOC Must Conduct Conciliation
Proceedings Before It Files a Pattern or Practice Suit ...................................... 18
CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................ 20
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES

Page(s)
ii

CASES
14 Penn Plaza LLC v. Pyett,
556 U.S. 247 (2009) .................................................................................................................15
Aeroground, Inc. v. CenterPoint Props. Trust,
738 F.3d 810 (7th Cir. 2013) .....................................................................................................7
Amari Co. v. Burgess,
546 F. Supp. 2d 571 (N.D. Ill. 2008) .......................................................................................13
Ashcroft v. Iqbal,
556 U.S. 662 (2009) .................................................................................................................16
Babrocky v. Jewel Food Co.,
773 F.2d 857 (7th Cir. 1985) ...................................................................................................13
Celestine v. Petroleos de Venezuella SA,
266 F.3d 343 (5th Cir. 2001) ...................................................................................................13
Council 31, AFSCME, AFL-CIO v. Ward,
978 F.2d 373 (7th Cir. 1992) .......................................................................................12, 13, 15
Davis v. Precoat Metals,
328 F. Supp. 2d 847 (N.D. Ill. 2004) .........................................................................................9
DeWalt v. Carter,
224 F.3d 607 (7th Cir. 2000) .....................................................................................................2
EEOC v. Agro Distrib. LLC,
555 F.3d 462 (5th Cir. 2009) ...................................................................................................17
EEOC v. Asplundh Tree Expert Co.,
340 F.3d 1256 (11th Cir. 2003) ...............................................................................................17
EEOC v. Bass Pro Outdoor World, LLC,
No. 4:11-CV-3425, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27019 (S.D. Tex. Mar. 4, 2014).........................19
EEOC v. Bloomberg L.P.,
751 F. Supp. 2d 628 (S.D.N.Y. 2010) ......................................................................................19
EEOC v. Bloomberg L.P.,
No. 07-Civ.-8383, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 128385 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 9, 2013) ........................17
EEOC v. Cognis Corp.,
No. 10-cv-2182, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 71870 (C.D. Ill. May 23, 2012) ........................10, 14
(continued)
Page(s)

iii

EEOC v. Cosmair, Inc., LOreal Hair Care Div.,
821 F.2d 1085 (5th Cir. 1987) ...............................................................................................5, 6
EEOC v. CRST Van Expedited,
679 F.3d 657 (8th Cir. 2012) ...................................................................................................17
EEOC v. Firestone Tire & Rubber Co.,
366 F. Supp. 273 (D. Md. 1973) ..............................................................................................20
EEOC v. Freeman,
No. 09-cv-2573, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 41336 (D. Md. Apr. 26, 2010) ................................19
EEOC v. Gonnella Baking Co.,
No. 08-C-5240, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9260 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 5, 2009) ...................................17
EEOC v. Intl Profit Assocs.,
No. 01-C-4427, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19070 (N.D. Ill. Mar. 16, 2007) .........................12, 14
EEOC v. JBS USA, LLC,
940 F. Supp. 2d 949 (D. Neb. 2013) ........................................................................................19
EEOC v. Kaplan Higher Educ. Corp.,
790 F. Supp. 2d 619 (N.D. Ohio 2011) ....................................................................................19
EEOC v. Mach Mining, LLC,
738 F.3d 171 (7th Cir. 2013) ...................................................................................................17
EEOC v. Massey-Ferguson, Inc.,
622 F.2d 271 (7th Cir. 1980) ...................................................................................................16
EEOC v. Nucletron Corp.,
563 F. Supp. 2d 592 (D. Md. 2008) ...................................................................................10, 14
EEOC v. Pierce Packing Co.,
669 F.2d 605 (9th Cir. 1982) ...................................................................................................17
EEOC v. Sears, Roebuck & Co.,
490 F. Supp. 1245 (M.D. Ala. 1980) .......................................................................................19
EEOC v. Sears, Roebuck & Co.,
857 F. Supp. 1233 (N.D. Ill. 1994) ....................................................................................10, 14
EEOC v. Severn Trent Servs., Inc.,
358 F.3d 438 (7th Cir. 2004) .....................................................................................................7
(continued)
Page(s)

iv

EEOC v. Swissport Fueling, Inc.,
No. CV-10-02101, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17926 (D. Ariz. Jan. 9, 2014) .............................17
EEOC v. SunDance Rehabilitation Corp.,
466 F.3d 490 (6th Cir. 2006) .............................................................................................10, 14
EEOC v. U.S. Pipe & Foundry Co.,
375 F. Supp. 237 (N.D. Ala. 1974) ..........................................................................................20
EEOC v. United Air Lines,
No. 73-C-972, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11689 (N.D. Ill. June 26, 1975), affd, 560
F.2d 224 (7th Cir. 1977) ..........................................................................................................19
EEOC v. W. Elec. Co.,
382 F. Supp. 787 (D. Md. 1974) ..............................................................................................20
EEOC v. Westvaco Corp.,
372 F. Supp. 985 (D. Md. 1974) ..............................................................................................20
EEOC v. Whirlpool Corp.,
80 F.R.D. 10 (N.D. Ind. 1978) .................................................................................................19
Fortino v. Quasar Co.,
950 F.2d 389 (7th Cir. 1991) .....................................................................................................5
Gilardi v. Schroeder,
833 F.2d 1226 (7th Cir. 1987) .................................................................................................20
International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. United States,
431 U.S. 324 (1977) ...........................................................................................................12, 13
Isbell v. Allstate Ins. Co.,
418 F.3d 788 (7th Cir. 2005) .......................................................................................5, 6, 9, 14
Keri v. Bd. of Trustees of Purdue Univ.,
458 F.3d 620 (7th Cir. 2006) .....................................................................................................4
Local Union No. 1992 v. Okonite Co.,
189 F.3d 339 (3d Cir. 1999).......................................................................................................5
Occidental Life Ins. Co. v. EEOC,
432 U.S. 355 (1977) ...........................................................................................................16, 18
Parisi v. Goldman, Sachs & Co.,
710 F.3d 483 (2d Cir. 2013)...............................................................................................13, 14
(continued)
Page(s)

v

Puffer v. Allstate Ins. Co.,
675 F.3d 709 (7th Cir. 2012) ...................................................................................................15
Quattrone v. Erie 2 Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Bd. of Coop. Educl Servs.,
No. 08-CV-367, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 118250 (W.D.N.Y. Oct. 13, 2011) .........................10
Reger Dev., LLC v. Natl City Bank,
592 F.3d 759 (7th Cir. 2010) .....................................................................................................7
Ribble v. Kimberly-Clark Corp.,
No. 09-C-643, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21822 (E.D. Wis. Feb. 22, 2012) ...........................6, 15
Romero v. Allstate Ins. Co., Nos. 01-3894, 01-6764, 01-7042, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS
25794 (E.D. Pa. Feb. 27, 2014) l. ..............................................................................................6
Romero v. Allstate Ins. Co., Nos. 01-3894, 01-6764, 01-7042, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS
32491 (E.D. Pa. Mar. 13, 2014) l. ................................................................................10, 11, 14
Thompson v. Ill. Dept of Profl Regulation,
300 F.3d 750 (7th Cir. 2002) .....................................................................................................2
Velez v. Marriott PR Mgmt., Inc.,
590 F. Supp. 2d 235 (D.P.R. 2008) ..........................................................................................14
Vitarelli v. Seaton,
359 U.S. 535 (1959) .................................................................................................................20
STATUTES
42 U.S.C. 2000e-2 .........................................................................................................................9
42 U.S.C. 2000e-2(a)(1)................................................................................................................9
42 U.S.C. 2000e-3 .........................................................................................................................9
42 U.S.C. 2000e-3(a) ..............................................................................................................9, 10
42 U.S.C. 2000e-4 .......................................................................................................................11
42 U.S.C. 2000e-5 .......................................................................................................................18
42 U.S.C. 2000e-5(b) ............................................................................................................11, 16
42 U.S.C. 2000e-5(f)(1) ..............................................................................................................16
(continued)
Page(s)

vi

42 U.S.C. 2000e-6 .......................................................................................................................18
42 U.S.C. 2000e-6(a) ......................................................................................................11, 12, 15
42 U.S.C. 2000e-6(c) ............................................................................................................11, 18
42 U.S.C. 2000e-6(d) ..................................................................................................................18
42 U.S.C. 2000e-6(e) ......................................................................................................11, 16, 18
OTHER AUTHORITIES
29 C.F.R. 1601.1 .........................................................................................................................20
29 C.F.R. 1601.21 .......................................................................................................................20
29 C.F.R. 1601.24(a).............................................................................................................16, 19
29 C.F.R. 1601.25 .................................................................................................................16, 20
29 C.F.R. 1601.27 .......................................................................................................................20
118 Cong. Rec. 7563 (1972) (Rep. Perkins) ..................................................................................18
Br. for Plaintiff-Appellant EEOC, CRST, Nos. 09-3764, 09-3765, 10-1682 (8th Cir. 2010),
available at http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/litigation/briefs/crst.txt ..............................................18
Br. of Plaintiff-Appellant, EEOC v. Geo Grp.,
No. 13-16292 (9th Cir. 2014), available at
http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/litigation/briefs/geogroup.html. ....................................................13
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) ........................................................................................2
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 .......................................................................................2, 4, 16
Enforcement Guidance on Non-Waivable Employee Rights, EEOC Notice No. 915.002
(Apr. 10, 1997), http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/waiver.html. ..............................................5


INTRODUCTION
I. This case is an attempt by Plaintiff (the EEOC or Commission) to test its new,
unprecedented theory that employers can be held liable for a pattern or practice of resisting the
rights secured by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act without ever once violating that laws
prohibitions, simply by including certain contractual provisions in a standard severance
agreement with terminated employees. Established law is clear that executing such an agreement
is neither discrimination forbidden by the statute nor retaliation against employees who have
exercised their rightsand, indeed, the EEOC does not allege otherwise. Nonetheless, the
EEOC seeks to hold CVS Pharmacy liable on a pattern-or-practice theory, speculating that its
agreement may somehow deter former employees from filing EEOC charges or cooperating in
investigations and thus interfere with the EEOCs work. For two reasons, this claim fails.
First, the EEOCs premise is simply false. CVS Pharmacys run-of-the-mill agreement
does not do what the EEOC alleges. In fact, the agreement expressly stipulates that the former
employees may participate in proceedings before anti-discrimination agencies and cooperate in
their investigations. The EEOCs suggestion that non-disparagement or non-disclosure clauses
in the agreement supersede that express stipulation is foreclosed by black-letter contract law.
Other than that, the contract simply requires the former employee to release any waivable claims
for relief that he may have against CVS Pharmacy (which is a routine and lawful bargain, as
EEOC guidance confirms), and notify the company of any lawsuits or investigations relating to
CVS Pharmacy as to which the former employees participation is sought.
Second, even if the severance agreement did what the EEOC claims, it would at most be
unenforceable; it would not remotely constitute a pattern or practice of violating Title VII.
The statutes pattern-or-practice provision simply authorizes the EEOC to proceed, using a class
action-style proof framework, against those who repeatedly, intentionally engage in unlawful

2

employment practices forbidden by Title VII, namely discrimination and retaliation. Yet the
EEOC does not allege that CVS Pharmacy ever unlawfully discriminated or retaliated against
anyone, probably because courts have rejected such claims. Its novel theory thus turns pattern-
or-practice liability on its headinstead of being directed at the worst discriminators with the
most discrimination victims, the EEOC would invoke it against conduct that no court has ever
held unlawful and despite the lack of any such alleged victims. This Court should reject that
perverse, baseless attempt to turn pattern-or-practice authority into a roving commission to
penalize lawful conduct that the EEOC deems bad.
II. To the extent that this Court does not reject the EEOCs legal theory as a matter
of law under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), CVS Pharmacy should be granted
summary judgment under Rule 56, due to the EEOCs failure to comply with the statutory and
regulatory requirement that it try to resolve matters through voluntary conciliation efforts with
the employer before bringing suit. Here, the EEOC flatly refused to engage in any conciliation,
despite CVS Pharmacys repeated requests to do so and its express representation that it was
modifying its severance agreement. Instead, the EEOC insisted that it was not bound by this
prerequisite in pattern-or-practice casesanother novel position squarely foreclosed by statutory
text, four decades of consistent precedent, and the EEOCs own binding regulations.
FACTUAL BACKGROUND
I. For purposes of CVS Pharmacys motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), the
Complaints well-pleaded factual allegations are taken as true. DeWalt v. Carter, 224 F.3d 607,
612 (7th Cir. 2000). Because the Complaint attached the allegedly improper severance
agreement as an exhibit (Dkt. 1-1 (Agreement)), that contract can also be considered at the
motion-to-dismiss stageand, indeed, the document itself takes precedence over any allegations
about it. See Thompson v. Ill. Dept of Profl Regulation, 300 F.3d 750, 754 (7th Cir. 2002).

3

The Complaint alleges that the five-page single-spaced Agreement interferes with the
ability of CVS Pharmacys former employees to file charges, and otherwise cooperate, with the
EEOC and with state Fair Employment Practices Agencies. (Compl., 1, 8.)
First, the Agreement contains a release of waivable claims and a related covenant not to
sue. Section 7 provides that, with the exception of rights that the former employee cannot
lawfully waive, the former employee releases CVS Pharmacy from any causes of action,
lawsuits, proceedings, complaints, charges, debts, contracts, judgments, damages, claims, and
attorneys fees arising prior to the execution of the Agreement. (Agreement, 7.) Section 8
then prohibits the former employee from filing any action, lawsuit, complaint or proceeding
asserting those released claims. (Agreement, 8.) However, this provision expressly clarifies
that it does not interfere with Employees right to participate in a proceeding with any
government agency enforcing discrimination laws and that that the Agreement shall not
prohibit Employee from cooperating with any such agency. (Id.) In such a case, the former
employee is merely precluded from be[ing] entitled to receive any relief (e.g., damages). (Id.)
Second, the Agreement contains covenants committing the ex-employee not to disclose
confidential company information or disparage the company. (Agreement, 13.a, 13.d.) The
non-disparagement provision does not apply to truthful statements or disclosures that are
required by applicable law, regulation or legal process or to confidential legal advice. (Id.)
Third, the Agreement includes a covenant requiring the former employee to notify the
company in the event that he or she receives a subpoena, deposition notice, interview request, or
any other inquiry, process or order relating to any civil, criminal or administrative investigation,
suit, proceeding or other legal matter relating to the company. (Agreement, 13.e.) However,
it does not prohibit Employee from testifying truthfully in any legal proceeding. (Id.)

4

II. For purposes of CVS Pharmacys alternative Rule 56 motion, the Court may
consider supporting affidavits and other factual materials. See Keri v. Bd. of Trustees of Purdue
Univ., 458 F.3d 620, 627-28 (7th Cir. 2006).
This case arises from a charge of race and sex discrimination filed by Tonia Ramos, a
former CVS Pharmacy manager discharged in July 2011. (Def.s Local Rule 56.1 Statement
(SMF), 5-8.) Ramos signed CVS Pharmacys standard severance agreement upon her
termination; several weeks later, she filed an EEOC charge. (Id. 6-7.) Over the course of
several interviews with CVS Pharmacy representatives, EEOC investigators began to focus on
the severance agreement, rather than Ramos actual charge. (McConnell Aff., 10-12.) On
June 10, 2013, an EEOC attorney issued a letter stating that the EEOC had reasonable cause to
believe that CVS Pharmacy was engaged in a pattern or practice of resistance to Title VIInot
based on allegations in Ramos charge, which the EEOC dismissed three days later, but rather
based on CVS Pharmacys severance agreement. (SMF, 8-9.) The EEOC offered CVS
Pharmacy 14 days to decide whether to enter a consent decree, which would be filed jointly in
federal district court immediately after the Commission files a Complaint against the Company.
(Id. 8.) After receiving this correspondence, CVS Pharmacy repeatedly offered to participate
in conciliation proceedings to resolve the matter informally. The EEOC refused. (Id. 10-11.)
Instead, on February 7, 2014, the EEOC filed this suit.
ARGUMENT
I. CVS PHARMACYS SEVERANCE AGREEMENT DOES NOT INTERFERE
WITH FORMER EMPLOYEES ABILITY TO FILE EEOC CHARGES OR TO
COOPERATE WITH THE EEOC.
The premise of the Complaint is that CVS Pharmacys severance agreement somehow
interferes with former employees rights to file charges with the EEOC or participate in EEOC
proceedings. That premise rests on a misreading of the Agreement and fails as a matter of law.

5

1. Release and Covenant Not To Sue. The Agreement includes both a release of
claims and a covenant not to sue. The two serve distinct purposes: A release does not forbid the
employee to do anything, but simply gives the employer an effective affirmative defense,
allowing it to win a suit should a claim be raised; by contrast, a covenant not to sue commits
the employee not to sue at all. Isbell v. Allstate Ins. Co., 418 F.3d 788, 797 (7th Cir. 2005).
There is no serious argument that a mere release of Title VII claims is problematic or in
any way unlawful. Even the EEOC recognizes that a private agreement can eliminate an
individuals right to personal recovery. Enforcement Guidance on Non-Waivable Employee
Rights, EEOC Notice No.915.002 (Apr. 10, 1997), http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/waiver.html.
And courts routinely enforce such agreements. E.g., Fortino v. Quasar Co., 950 F.2d 389, 394-
95 (7th Cir. 1991) (enforcing release of discrimination claims); see also Local Union No. 1992 v.
Okonite Co., 189 F.3d 339, 348 (3d Cir. 1999) (The requirement that employees sign a release
as a condition of receiving severance pay is a common provision in modern severance
agreements.); EEOC v. Cosmair, Inc., LOreal Hair Care Div., 821 F.2d 1085, 1091 (5th Cir.
1987) ([T]he employee can waive not only the right to recover in his or her own lawsuit but also
the right to recover in a suit brought by the EEOC on the employees behalf.). Indeed, if the
rule were otherwise, no Title VII claim could ever be settled outside of court, which is absurd.
As for the Agreements covenant not to sue (section 8), it expressly stipulates that it shall
not interfere with Employees right to participate in a proceeding with any appropriate federal,
state, or local government agency enforcing discrimination laws, nor shall this Agreement
prohibit Employee from cooperating with any such agency in its investigation. (Agreement,
8.) That proviso plainly exempts, from the general covenant, the employees right to file an
EEOC charge or participate in an EEOC proceeding. Thus, while an employee cannot waive

6

the right to file a charge with the EEOC, Cosmair, 821 F.2d at 1091, here, the covenant not to
sue does not restrict that right. To the contrary, it affirmatively recognizes and preserves it.
The EEOC objects that this clarifying language is not repeated anywhere else in the
Agreement, and that the Agreements release provision ( 7) applies to both lawsuits and also
charges, thus supposedly suggesting that the Agreement forbids filing EEOC charges. (Compl.
8.d & f.) That argument fails for four reasons.
First, nothing in Title VII requires that severance agreements say anything about the right
to participate in EEOC proceedings. Ribble v. Kimberly-Clark Corp., No. 09-C-643, 2012 U.S.
Dist. LEXIS 21822, at *24 (E.D. Wis. Feb. 22, 2012). A fortiori, there is surely no requirement
that an agreement repeat statements affirming those rights in every section. Second, only the
Agreements covenant not to sue, not its release, purports to prohibit the former employees from
initiating actions. See Isbell, 418 F.3d at 797. And the covenant not to sue does not use the word
charges, thus indicating that EEOC charges are excluded from that baras the provision goes
on to say expressly. Therefore, if an ex-employee files an EEOC charge, the only thing released
is his right to receive any relief, recovery or monies in connection with the claim. (Agreement,
8.) And that, as explained, is indisputably lawful. Cosmair, 821 F.2d at 1091. Third, courts
have rejected the EEOCs inference from use of the word charges in the release. [W]hile the
term charges standing alone could potentially be read as meaning administrative charges, when
taken in context it is easily understood to constitute legal charges filed in a court.
Romero v. Allstate Ins. Co., Nos. 01-3894, 01-6764, 01-7042, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25794, at
*194 (E.D. Pa. Feb. 27, 2014). Fourth, the release itself excludes rights that the employee
cannot lawfully waive (Agreement, 7); releases with such a caveat thus do not prohibit
employees from filing EEOC charges. Ribble, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21822, at *20-24.

7

2. Non-Disparagement & Non-Disclosure. The covenants against disparagement
of the company or disclosure of its confidential information are ubiquitous and unobjectionable.
No employer want[s] to be badmouthed by a disgruntled employee who may be privy to the
employers dark secrets. EEOC v. Severn Trent Servs., Inc., 358 F.3d 438, 440 (7th Cir. 2004).
The Complaint contends that these general provisions could be read to forbid the former
employees from filing EEOC charges, because such charges could be thought to disparage CVS
Pharmacy or entail disclosure of confidential information. But that is simply an implausible
construction of these provisions, given the agreement as a whole. See Reger Dev., LLC v. Natl
City Bank, 592 F.3d 759, 764 (7th Cir. 2010) (During our review, we do not look at any one
contract provision in isolation; instead, we read the document as a whole.). As explained above,
the Agreement expressly preserves former employees rights to file EEOC charges and cooperate
in EEOC investigations. Under black-letter contract law, a more specific provision of a contract
governs where it arguably conflicts with a more general provision. Aeroground, Inc. v.
CenterPoint Props. Trust, 738 F.3d 810, 816 (7th Cir. 2013). Thus, the general non-disclosure
and non-disparagement covenants cannot be read as superseding the Agreements specific,
express clarification that it does not prohibit Employee from cooperating with any such agency
in its investigation. (Agreement, 8.) Rather, the specific provision will be deemed to qualify
the more general one, that is, to state an exception to it. Aeroground, 738 F.3d at 816. As if
that were not enough, the non-disparagement clause also repeats that nothing in this Agreement
shall prohibit Employee from making truthful statements or disclosures that are required by
applicable law, regulation or legal process. (Agreement, 13.d.)
3. Notification Provision. Finally, the EEOC cites a provision that merely directs
the former employee to notify CVS Pharmacy upon receiving a subpoena, deposition notice,

8

interview request, or another inquiry, process or order relating to any civil, criminal or
administrative investigation. (Agreement, 11.e.) CVS Pharmacy has an obvious, legitimate
interest in knowing of any lawsuits or investigations that implicate its operations, and there is no
basis to allege that this provision would interfere with the EEOCs work. To the extent that
the EEOC contends that this notice provision would somehow deter participation in such an
investigation, that is not only wholly speculative but implausible. First, the provision requires
notice whether or not the former employee chooses to cooperate with the investigation or ignore
it. Second, in any case, the Agreement applies by its nature only to former employees, so there is
no plausible risk that they would be chilled by the notice requirement (and the Complaint does
not explain why they would be). Third, again, the Agreement explicitly states that it does not
interfere with participation in any proceeding or investigation by any antidiscrimination agency.
4. Remedies. Finally, a former employee who breaches the Agreement is liable for
attorneys fees incurred by CVS Pharmacy in remedying such breach. (Agreement, 14.) But
any objection to this remedy provision is wholly derivative of the objections to the Agreements
substantive terms. Since the Agreements other terms are perfectly lawful, as explained, there is
obviously nothing wrong with its remedy provision either.
In sum, this Agreement merely does what all severance agreements do. If an employee
wants the benefits of such an agreement, he must comply with its termsand CVS Pharmacys
terms are both reasonable and lawful. The Complaints premise thus fails as a matter of law.
II. MERE INCLUSION OF CONTRACTUAL TERMS IN A SEVERANCE
AGREEMENT DOES NOT VIOLATE ANY PART OF TITLE VII.
Even if CVS Pharmacys Agreement did interfere with its ex-employees participation in
EEOC proceedings, that at most would render the offending provisions unenforceable. The mere
inclusion of the provisions in the contract does not, however, amount to unlawful discrimination

9

or retaliationand the EEOC does not allege otherwise. But without any substantive violations
of Title VII, there obviously can be no pattern or practice liability. Pattern-or-practice
authority allows the EEOC to proceed on a class-wide basis against the worst violators of Title
VII, but the EEOCs unprecedented theory here would allow it to prohibit and enjoin all sorts of
conduct that does not violate Title VII. No support exists for that stunning theory.
A. The Complaint Does Not and Cannot Allege Any Unlawful Discrimination or
Retaliation Under Title VII.
1. At the outset, it is important to observe what the Complaint does not allege. Title
VIIs unlawful employment practices are defined in section 703 and section 704 of the Act. 42
U.S.C. 2000e-2, 2000e-3. Section 703, entitled unlawful employment practices, forbids an
employer to discriminate against any individual because of such individuals race, color,
religion, sex, or national origin. Id. 2000e-2(a)(1). The EEOC does not allege violation of
this provision. Section 704 (other unlawful employment practices) forbids discrimination
against an employee because he has opposed any practice made an unlawful employment
practice by [Title VII] or because he has made a charge, testified, assisted, or participated in any
manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing under this subchapter. Id. 2000e-3(a). The
Complaint does not allege violation of this anti-retaliation provision, either.
2. There is a good reason for the Complaints omission of any claim under sections
703 (discrimination) or 704 (retaliation): It is very clear, as a matter of law, that the mere use of
certain terms in a severance agreement does not run afoul of either prohibition.
First, this is plainly not discrimination on any protected ground (race, sex, etc.). Isbell,
418 F.3d at 795 (rejecting discrimination claim because all terminated employees received same
offer); Davis v. Precoat Metals, 328 F. Supp. 2d 847, 852 (N.D. Ill. 2004) (Offering severance
benefits in return for a general release of claims is neither discriminatory nor retaliatory.).

10

Second, courts have held that even including a charge-filing ban in a severance agreement
is not retaliation under Title VII. The employee has not made a charge, testified, assisted, or
participated in any EEOC proceeding, 42 U.S.C. 2000e-3(a), and the employer has not taken
any adverse action against anyone. In EEOC v. SunDance Rehabilitation Corp., 466 F.3d 490
(6th Cir. 2006), the EEOC argued that the employer committed a per se violation of Title VIIs
anti-retaliation provision by condition[ing] severance pay on promises from the terminated
employee not to file charges with the EEOC [or] to participate in EEOC proceedings. Id. at
497. The Sixth Circuit rejected that theory, holding that since the employer simply offered a
contract and engaged in no further action, its mere offer of the Separation Agreement did
not, without more, amoun[t] to facial retaliation. Id. at 498, 500-01. While the Sixth Circuit
agreed that a ban on EEOC charge-filing may be unenforceable as a matter of contract law, it
nonetheless held that its inclusion in the Separation Agreement does not make SunDances
offering that Agreement in and of itself retaliatory. Id. at 501.
Thus, while an agreements ban on filing EEOC charges may be unenforceable, merely
offering or executing such a contract is not itself unlawful under Title VII. Accord EEOC v.
Sears, Roebuck & Co., 857 F. Supp. 1233, 1239 (N.D. Ill. 1994) ([C]onditioning severance
benefits on an invalid release is not actionable.); EEOC v. Nucletron Corp., 563 F. Supp. 2d
592, 598 (D. Md. 2008) ([M]ere offer of the severance agreement is insufficient to constitute
retaliation.); EEOC v. Cognis Corp., No. 10-cv-2182, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 71870, at *20-21
(C.D. Ill. May 23, 2012) (rejecting retaliation theory where employer did not enforce void
provision); Quattrone v. Erie 2 Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Bd. of Coop. Educl Servs., No. 08-
CV-367, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 118250, at *32 (W.D.N.Y. Oct. 13, 2011) (rejecting retaliation
claim); Romero v. Allstate Ins. Co., Nos. 01-3894, 01-6764, 01-7042, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS

11

32491, at *64 (E.D. Pa. Mar. 13, 2014) (while release clearly suffers from several infirmities,
it is still not a substantive violation of the anti-retaliation statutes).
B. Without Unlawful Discrimination or Retaliation, No Pattern or Practice
Action Can Be Alleged, and the EEOCs Claim Therefore Fails.
Because any claim of a substantive Title VII violation is legally foreclosed, the EEOC
alleges that CVS Pharmacys use of the Agreement constitutes a pattern or practice of resisting
Title VII. That is backwards: a pattern-or-practice action targets the worst discriminators and
gives the EEOC a procedural vehicle to seek class-wide relief. Thus, there can be no pattern-or-
practice liability unless there has been actual, repeated discrimination or retaliation.
1. Text, structure, and precedent all confirm that pattern-or-practice authority is just
a procedural tool to combat unlawful employment practices already defined by Title VIInot
a distinct substantive violation or a delegation to the EEOC to define other unlawful practices.
As explained above, sections 703 and 704 of the Civil Rights Act address the unlawful
employment practices it forbidsi.e., discrimination and retaliation. Section 705 creates the
EEOC. 42 U.S.C. 2000e-4. Section 706 sets forth enforcement provisions, which allow the
EEOC to bring suit (subject to certain procedural preconditions) on behalf of aggrieved persons.
See id. 2000e-5(b). Finally, section 707 granted the Attorney General the power to file an
action if an employer is engaged in a pattern or practice of resistance to the full enjoyment of
any of the rights secured by this subchapter, and that . . . pattern or practice is of such a nature
and is intended to deny the full exercise of the rights herein described. Id. 2000e-6(a). In
1972, Congress transferred the Attorney Generals pattern-or-practice authority to the EEOC,
subject to the same procedural requirements that apply under section 706. Id. 2000e-6(c), (e).
Structurally, sections 703 and 704 of the Act set forth the practices that are substantively
unlawful, while sections 706 and 707 set forth two procedural mechanisms by which the EEOC

12

may challenge those practices. A pattern or practice is therefore not a distinct type of unlawful
employer conduct butas its name impliesa policy of discrimination. Statutory text offers
further corroboration: Section 707 allows challenge to a pattern or practice of resistance to the
rights secured by this subchapter. 42 U.S.C. 2000e-6(a). Those rights are those, already
secured and herein described, to be free of the defined unlawful employment practices.
Section 707 thus does not create new rights or prohibit other employment practices.
Consistent precedent confirms this understanding. International Brotherhood of
Teamsters v. United States, 431 U.S. 324 (1977), the leading case, explained that a pattern-or-
practice suit is akin to a class action. Id. at 360. The Court held that to prove a systemwide
pattern or practice of resistance to the full enjoyment of Title VII rights, the Government had
to establish that discrimination was the companys standard operating procedurethe regular
rather than the unusual practice. Id. at 336. The burden then shifts to the employer to prove
that particular adverse actions were not caused by discriminatory animus. Id. at 357-62. The
Court recognized that Congress intended the pattern-or-practice authority to apply if an employer
repeatedly and regularly engaged in the unlawful employment practices prohibited by the
statute. Id. at 336 n.16 (quoting 110 Cong. Rec. 14270 (1964) (Sen. Humphrey)). Section 707
thus does not prohibit any employer misconduct distinct from sections 703 and 704; it prohibits
and provides a special mechanism to address repeated violations of those provisions.
In other words, a pattern or practice action is designed to provide a remedy when an
employer has engaged in unlawful employment practices, as defined by [section 703], that are
systemic and widespread. EEOC v. Intl Profit Assocs., No. 01-C-4427, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS
19070, at *20 (N.D. Ill. Mar. 16, 2007). A pattern-or-practice action requires showing that an
employer regularly and purposefully discriminates against a protected group. Council 31,

13

AFSCME, AFL-CIO v. Ward, 978 F.2d 373, 378 (7th Cir. 1992); see also Amari Co. v. Burgess,
546 F. Supp. 2d 571, 583 (N.D. Ill. 2008) ([T]he EEOC is authorized to initiate a Title VII
enforcement lawsuit only when an unlawful employment practice has occurred . (emphasis
added)). A pattern or practice is thus simply a form of classwide discrimination. Babrocky v.
Jewel Food Co., 773 F.2d 857, 866 n.6 (7th Cir. 1985). Without violations of Title VIIs
substantive prohibitions, there can be no actionable pattern or practice.
As such, pattern-or-practice is really just a way of proving discrimination under sections
703 and 704, not a freestanding claim. Parisi v. Goldman, Sachs & Co., 710 F.3d 483, 487 (2d
Cir. 2013) ([I]n Title VII jurisprudence pattern-or-practice simply refers to a method of proof
and does not constitute a freestanding cause of action.); Celestine v. Petroleos de Venezuella
SA, 266 F.3d 343, 355 (5th Cir. 2001) (A pattern or practice case is not a separate and free-
standing cause of action but is really merely another method by which disparate treatment can
be shown.). As the EEOC itself just told the Ninth Circuit, pattern or practice is an
evidentiary framework, not a claim. Br. of Plaintiff-Appellant at 40, EEOC v. Geo Grp., No.
13-16292 (9th Cir. 2014), available at http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/litigation/briefs/geogroup.html.
2. Accordingly, the Complaints theory must fail. As shown, the Agreement does
not violate Title VIIs two substantive prohibitions, and the EEOC has not alleged otherwise.
Plainly, then, no Title VII class action is possible (because such a class requires many victims
of discrimination); the EEOC cannot demonstrate that CVS Pharmacy repeatedly and regularly
engaged in acts prohibited by the statute (because it does not allege that CVS Pharmacy ever
engaged in the statutorily defined unlawful employment practices); and it cannot prove that
discrimination was [CVS Pharmacys] standard operating procedure (because it is undisputed
that CVS never engaged in unlawful discrimination). Teamsters, 431 U.S. at 336 & n.16, 360.

14

Rather, the EEOC seeks to invoke pattern-or-practice authority to outlaw conduct that is
not prohibited as an unlawful employment practice. But the pattern-or-practice provision is
not a freestanding prohibition, Parisi, 710 F.3d at 487; it merely creates an additional
procedural vehicle, Velez v. Marriott PR Mgmt., Inc., 590 F. Supp. 2d 235, 241 (D.P.R. 2008),
to combat unlawful employment practices, as defined by Title VII, Intl Profit, 2007 U.S. Dist.
LEXIS 19070, at *20which are concededly absent here.
Indeed, on the EEOCs theory, cases like SunDance should have come out the other way.
Those courts found that the use of contract provisions that prevented the filing of EEOC charges
did not give rise to liability under Title VII. SunDance, 466 F.3d at 501; Sears, Roebuck, 857 F.
Supp. at 1239; Nucletron, 563 F. Supp. 2d at 598; Cognis Corp., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 71870,
at *20-21; Romero, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32491, at *64. The EEOCs theory here is that it
simply should have pleaded those claims as pattern-or-practice violations. That is not remotely
tenable. The failure of the pattern-or-practice theory follows a fortiori from those cases.
C. The EEOCs Unprecedented Theory Would Turn Pattern or Practice
Authority into a Blank Check for the Agency.
On the EEOCs view, a pattern-or-practice suit may be pursued, even if the employer has
never committed a single act of discrimination or retaliation and even if there is no reason to
suspect that it ever will. So long as the EEOC can allege that the employers (lawful) behavior
somehow interferes with the EEOCs work, it can sue. That is a stunningly unbounded authority,
handing the EEOC the power to challenge any employer policy that it believes to be bad.
On that logic, the EEOC could allege, e.g., that requiring any release of Title VII claims
is a pattern-or-practice violation, because employees are less likely to file EEOC charges if they
would not obtain personal relief. But see Isbell, 418 F.3d at 792-93 (upholding such release). Or
the EEOC could challenge a requirement that employees arbitrate their discrimination claims,

15

because that too could dissuade them from approaching the EEOC. But see 14 Penn Plaza LLC
v. Pyett, 556 U.S. 247 (2009) (upholding such an arbitration agreement). Or the EEOC could
argue that employers must affirmatively advise employees of their right to file an EEOC charge.
But see Ribble, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21822, at *24 (upholding release even though it did not
explicitly state[] that a signing employee retains the right to file a charge with the EEOC).
In short, transforming section 707 from the class-action device it has always been, into an
open-ended, undefined, and independent category of wrongdoing, would not only conflict with
the statutes structure and the uniform caselaw, but also vest the EEOC with the far-reaching
power to define new violations of Title VIIa power that Congress never intended to give it.
D. At Minimum, Any Section 707 Action Would Require Intentional
Interference, Which the EEOC Has Not Plausibly Alleged and Cannot Show.
Even if section 707 could be invoked based only on supposed interference with EEOC
charge-filing or EEOC investigations, such a claim would exist only if the employer intentionally
engaged in such interference. Section 707 allows suit only against a pattern or practice
intended to deny the full exercise of the rights herein described. 42 U.S.C. 2000e-6(a)
(emphasis added). Cf. Puffer v. Allstate Ins. Co., 675 F.3d 709, 716 (7th Cir. 2012) (Pattern-or-
practice . . . represent[s] a theory of intentional discrimination.); Council 31, 978 F.2d at 378
(pattern-or-practice requires showing that an employer . . . purposefully discriminates).
Accordingly, even on the EEOCs unprecedented broad reading of section 707, it could cover
only intentional resistance to Title VII rights.
Here, the EEOC has alleged only CVS Pharmacys use of an overly broad and
misleading Agreement. (Compl., 1, 10.) For reasons explained in Part I, however, any such
effect would come at most from misinterpretations of the Agreement. The EEOCs claim is thus
that even if the Agreement does not impermissibly restrict ex-employees, they may erroneously

16

believe otherwise because it is somehow misleading. That obviously does not state a plausible
claim of intentional resistance to Title VII rights. Cf. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678
(2009). Proving the point, the Agreement expressly recommends that former employees seek
the advice of legal counsel concerning this Agreement before signing this Agreement and
provides them the opportunity to do so. (Agreement, 10; see also id. 12(a).) No employer
trying to deceive its former employees about their rights would specifically advise those
employees to seek legal advice to clarify those rights. At most, the EEOC has alleged potential
inadvertent confusion that CVS Pharmacy has endeavored to avoid. That is plainly insufficient.
III. THE EEOC VIOLATED TITLE VII AND ITS OWN REGULATIONS WHEN IT
FILED THE COMPLAINT WITHOUT FIRST ATTEMPTING CONCILIATION.
If the Court disagrees with the arguments above, this suit should still be dismissed under
Rule 56 because the EEOC refused to comply with the statutory and regulatory requirement that
it try to resolve all claims through voluntary conciliation before bringing suit.
A. The EEOC Must Endeavor To Conciliate Claims in a Confidential Manner
Before Filing a Lawsuit, But Here the EEOC Flatly Refused To Do So.
1. Title VII requires the EEOC to refrain from commencing a civil action until it
has discharged its administrative duties. Occidental Life Ins. Co. v. EEOC, 432 U.S. 355, 359,
368 (1977). One of those duties requires the agency to endeavor to eliminate any . . . alleged
unlawful employment practice by informal methods of conference, conciliation, and persuasion.
42 U.S.C. 2000e-5(b). The employer is entitled to confidentiality during those efforts. See id.
Only if the EEOC is unable to secure . . . a conciliation agreement acceptable to [it] may it
bring a civil action. Id. 2000e-5(f)(1), 2000e-6(e); accord EEOC v. Massey-Ferguson, Inc.,
622 F.2d 271, 277 (7th Cir. 1980). The EEOCs own regulations reiterate its duty to conciliate,
29 C.F.R. 1601.24(a), and further provide that the EEOC will notify the employer in
writing if it concludes that conciliation has not succeeded. Id. 1601.25.

17

2. In this case, the EEOC flatly refused to comply with its duty to endeavor to
eliminate the alleged unlawful employment practice through conciliation. While CVS Pharmacy
repeatedly made clear its willingness to take part in conciliation (SMF, 10), and even indicated
that it was already implementing modifications and clarifications to its Agreement to address the
EEOCs concerns, the EEOC refused to participate in any conciliation efforts, insisting instead
that it would file a lawsuit and that, at most, the parties could settle that lawsuit publicly through
a consent decree (Id. 8). There is no dispute, therefore, that the EEOC did not undertake any
conciliation in this case. That failure violates Title VII and EEOC regulations, as described.
1

3. Dismissal is the appropriate remedy for the EEOCs refusal to try to conciliate. A
stay might be a sufficient remedy where the EEOC has at least attempted to conciliate. EEOC
v. Gonnella Baking Co., No. 08-C-5240, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9260, at *11 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 5,
2009). But, here, the EEOC refused to attempt any conciliation and instead subjected CVS
Pharmacy to a public suit that it wanted to avoid through voluntary means. As many courts have
held, dismissal is proper in such cases. E.g., EEOC v. Pierce Packing Co., 669 F.2d 605, 608-09
(9th Cir. 1982); EEOC v. CRST Van Expedited, 679 F.3d 657, 677 (8th Cir. 2012); EEOC v.
Asplundh Tree Expert Co., 340 F.3d 1256, 1261 (11th Cir. 2003); EEOC v. Agro Distrib. LLC,
555 F.3d 462, 469 (5th Cir. 2009); EEOC v. Bloomberg L.P., No. 07-Civ.-8383, 2013 U.S. Dist.
LEXIS 128385, at *34 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 9, 2013).

1
EEOC v. Mach Mining, LLC, 738 F.3d 171 (7th Cir. 2013), held that, while the EEOC is
required by law to conciliate, courts should not question the sufficiency of its efforts so long as the
EEOC has pled on the face of its complaint that it has complied with all procedures required under Title
VII and the relevant documents are facially sufficient. Id. at 184. Here, however, the relevant
documents are not facially sufficient, and it is undisputed that the EEOC did not conduct any conciliation
proceedings; the dispute is over whether conciliation is required, not whether conciliation efforts were
adequate. The Mach Mining decision surely does not prevent this Court from resolving the former
question. See EEOC v. Swissport Fueling, Inc., No. CV-10-02101, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17926, at *5
(D. Ariz. Jan. 9, 2014) (distinguishing Mach Mining where court had no need to make specific inquiries
into settlement amounts or numbers of meetings held).

18

B. Title VII, Forty Years of Unanimous Jurisprudence, and the EEOCs Own
Regulations Demonstrate That the EEOC Must Conduct Conciliation
Proceedings Before It Files a Pattern or Practice Suit.
The EEOC takes the unprecedented position that it was not required to engage in
conciliation because this is a pattern-or-practice suit under section 707 (42 U.S.C. 2000e-6),
whereas the conciliation duty is found in section 706 (id. 2000e-5). That is wrong. The
statutory conciliation requirement applies to the EEOCs section 707 actions, and the EEOCs
own regulations impose the same duty in any event.
1. When Congress transferred pattern-or-practice authority to the EEOC in 1972, it
required the EEOC to carry out such functions in accordance with subsections (d) and (e) of this
section. 42 U.S.C. 2000e-6(c). Subsection (d) addresses then-pending cases, allowing the
EEOC to be substituted in cases initiated by the Attorney General. Id. 2000e-6(d). Subsection
(e) addresses future cases, authorizing the EEOC to investigate and act on a charge of a pattern
or practice of discrimination . . . . All such actions shall be conducted in accordance with the
procedures set forth in section 2000e-5 of this title. Id. 2000e-6(e) (emphasis added).
By cross-referencing section 706 (42 U.S.C. 2000e-5) as setting forth the procedures
that the EEOC must follow in its section 707 cases, Congress made clear that the EEOCin all
casesmust comply with the same integrated, multistep enforcement procedure[s] described
in Occidental Life, 432 U.S. at 359, including conciliation. Accord 118 Cong. Rec. 7563 (1972)
(Rep. Perkins) (noting, when introducing Conference Report on 1972 amendments, that EEOC
may sue [o]nly if conciliation proves to be impossible). Indeed, the EEOC has previously
admitted as much. For example, it correctly advised the Eighth Circuit that whether filed under
42 U.S.C. 2000e-5 ( 706) or 2000e-6 ( 707), all EEOC litigation shares the same
administrative prerequisites. Br. for Plaintiff-Appellant EEOC at 62, CRST, Nos. 09-3764, 09-
3765, 10-1682 (8th Cir. 2010), available at http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/litigation/briefs/crst.txt.

19

2. Four decades of caselaw confirm the statutory text and the EEOCs admission.
Shortly after the 1972 amendments, this Court explained that [t]he Commissions new authority
under 707(c), unlike the Attorney Generals authority under 707(a), is required to be exercised in
accordance with the procedures set forth in section 706(b), which includes efforts to conciliate
with the respondent prior to the institution of suit. EEOC v. United Air Lines, No. 73-C-972,
1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11689, at *4-5 (N.D. Ill. June 26, 1975), affd, 560 F.2d 224 (7th Cir.
1977). Numerous courts have since agreed. See, e.g., EEOC v. Whirlpool Corp., 80 F.R.D. 10,
17 (N.D. Ind. 1978) ([B]oth Section 706 and Section 707 suits must now be preceded by
investigation, a reasonable cause determination and conciliation.); EEOC v. Freeman, No. 09-
cv-2573, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 41336, at *13 (D. Md. Apr. 26, 2010) ([T]he EEOCs [section
707] authority is restricted by the procedures set forth in Section 706.); EEOC v. Bloomberg
L.P., 751 F. Supp. 2d 628, 644 (S.D.N.Y. 2010) (The EEOCs enforcement authority under
section 706 is subject to several procedural requirements, which are incorporated by reference
into the EEOCs authority to bring pattern or practice claims under section 707.); EEOC v.
Kaplan Higher Educ. Corp., 790 F. Supp. 2d 619, 622 (N.D. Ohio 2011) (same).
Courts thus routinely analyze, in EEOC pattern-or-practice actions under section 707,
whether the agency satisfied its pre-suit obligations. E.g., EEOC v. Bass Pro Outdoor World,
LLC, No. 4:11-CV-3425, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27019, at *20-33 (S.D. Tex. Mar. 4, 2014);
EEOC v. JBS USA, LLC, 940 F. Supp. 2d 949, 965-67 (D. Neb. 2013); Bloomberg, 751 F. Supp.
2d at 637-40; see also EEOC v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 490 F. Supp. 1245, 1256 (M.D. Ala. 1980)
(dismissing because conciliation is a condition precedent to an EEOC pattern or practice suit).
3. Finally, EEOC regulations require presuit conciliation whenever the EEOC issues
a reasonable cause determination. 29 C.F.R. 1601.24(a) (Where the Commission determines

20

that there is reasonable cause to believe that an unlawful employment practice has occurred or is
occurring, the Commission shall endeavor to eliminate such practice by informal methods of
conference, conciliation and persuasion.); id. 1601.25 (when EEOC determines that further
conciliation would be futile or nonproductive, it shall so notify the [employer] in writing);
id. 1601.27 (EEOC may bring a civil action unless it secure[s] a conciliation agreement).
Nothing about these regulations is limited to section 706 cases, and their purpose is to set forth
the EEOCs procedures for carrying out its responsibilities in the administration and
enforcement of title VIIwith no caveat for section 707 cases. Id. 1601.1.
2

Given the deference accorded to the EEOCs procedural regulations when construing
Title VII, these regulations clear up any remaining doubt over application of the pre-suit duties to
section 707 cases. See Gilardi v. Schroeder, 833 F.2d 1226, 1232 (7th Cir. 1987). Moreover,
the regulations independently bind the EEOC, even if not mandated by the statute. See Vitarelli
v. Seaton, 359 U.S. 535, 539-40 (1959) (agency must comply with rules that afford greater
procedural protections than statute). Numerous courts have thus dismissed EEOC actions for
failure to comply with its conciliation regulations, even in fairly minor ways. EEOC v. W. Elec.
Co., 382 F. Supp. 787, 796-97 (D. Md. 1974); EEOC v. U.S. Pipe & Foundry Co., 375 F. Supp.
237, 246-48 (N.D. Ala. 1974); EEOC v. Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., 366 F. Supp. 273, 275-78
(D. Md. 1973). Dismissal is thus clearly required here, where the EEOC did not even attempt to
conciliate. Accord EEOC v. Westvaco Corp., 372 F. Supp. 985, 992-94 (D. Md. 1974).
CONCLUSION
For these reasons, the Complaint should be dismissed with prejudice.

2
The EEOC also violated its regulation about reasonable-cause determinations, by issuing such a
determination despite dismissing Ramos charge. 29 C.F.R. 1601.21(a) (authorizing reasonable-cause
determinations only when EEOC has not settled or dismissed a charge or made a no cause finding).

21

Dated: April 18, 2014

Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Eric Dreiband__________________
Eric Dreiband (Illinois Bar No. 6210456)
Yaakov Roth
JONES DAY
51 Louisiana Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20001-2113
Telephone: (202) 879-3939
Facsimile: (202) 626-1700

Counsel for CVS Pharmacy, Inc.


CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

The undersigned certifies that all counsel of record who are deemed to have consented to
electronic service are being served with a copy of this document via the Courts CM/ECF system
on this 18th day of April, 2014.
/s/ Eric S. Dreiband
One of the Attorneys for CVS Pharmacy, Inc.


EEOC v. CVS (CVS Motion To Dismiss)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

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