Supreme Court Decision Alert - April 29, 2015

Yesterday, the Supreme Court issued one decision, described below, of interest to the business community.

Title VII—Affirmative Defenses—EEOC Conciliation Requirement

Mach Mining, LLC v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, No. 13–1019

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to try to negotiate an end to an employer's unlawful employment practices before suing the employer. See 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(b), (f). Title VII also requires that anything said or done during conciliation be kept confidential. See 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(b). Today, in Mach Mining, LLC v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, No. 13-1019, the Supreme Court held that courts have a duty to review whether the EEOC has fulfilled its obligation to attempt conciliation but that the scope of review is narrow, focusing solely on whether EEOC complied with its statutory obligation without probing deeply into the substance of the