STATE OF WISCONSIN
LABOR AND INDUSTRY REVIEW COMMISSION
P O BOX 8126, MADISON, WI 53708-8126 (608/266-9850)

JAMES MARANO, Complainant

CHRYSLER MOTORS, Respondent

FAIR EMPLOYMENT DECISION
ERD Case No. 199803462

An administrative law judge for the Equal Rights Division of the Department of Workforce Development issued an Order dismissing the complaint in this matter. A timely petition for review was filed.

The commission has considered the petition and the positions of the parties, and it has reviewed the materials in the file. Based on the applicable law and the records in this case, the commission issues the following:

ORDER

The Order of Dismissal issued on December 8, 1998 is set aside, and this matter is remanded to the Equal Rights Division for further proceedings consistent with this decision and the attached Memorandum Opinion.

Dated and mailed: February 12, 1999
maranja.rpr : 164 : 9

/s/ David B. Falstad, Chairman

/s/ Pamela I. Anderson, Commissioner

/s/ James A. Rutkowski, Commissioner

MEMORANDUM OPINION

In his petition for commission review the complainant alleges that he was not notified about the termination of his employment until September of 1998, only a month before he filed his discrimination complaint. Although this has been the complainant's contention throughout these proceedings, no investigation has ever been conducted into the timeliness of the complaint, and the complainant has never been given an opportunity to provide information to the Division regarding this issue. Two days after the complaint was filed, the Division issued a preliminary determination dismissing the complaint as untimely, in spite of the facts that the timeliness of the complaint could not be ascertained from its face and that the respondent had not raised the issue of timeliness in writing, as required by the Division's rules. (1) After the complainant filed a timely appeal of the preliminary determination, in which he indicated that he had been discharged only two months earlier, an administrative law judge remanded the matter for investigation into the issue of probable cause. A few days later the respondent submitted a letter to the Division, in which it asserted that the complaint was untimely. The administrative law judge then vacated his previous order and issued a decision dismissing the complaint as untimely based solely upon the representations contained in the respondent's letter, which apparently were not made known to the complainant and to which the complainant was never asked to respond. The commission now sets aside the order of dismissal and remands this matter for an investigation and initial determination regarding the timeliness of the complaint and, provisionally, on the issue of probable cause.

cc: Brian C. Dilley

Footnotes:

(1)( Back ) DWD 218.05 PRELIMINARY REVIEW OF COMPLAINTS. (1) REVIEW OF COMPLAINT. The department shall review every complaint filed to determine all of the following: (a) Whether the complainant is protected by the act. (b) Whether the respondent is subject to the act. (c) Whether the complaint states a claim for relief under the act. (d) Whether the complaint was filed within the time period set forth in the act, if that issue is raised in writing by the respondent. (emphasis added)

[ Search ER Decisions ] - [ ER Decision Digest ] - [ ER Legal Resources ] - [ LIRC Home Page ]