Arbgaugh v. Y&H Corp
Arbaugh sued Y & H Corporation, her employer, for sexual harassment violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. To qualify as an employer under Title VII, a company must employ fifteen or more employees for a minimum of twenty weeks. During the time Arbaugh worked at Y & H, the corporation never met this requirement. However, Y & H did not move to dismiss the suit on this issue until a month after the jury returned a verdict in favor of Arbaugh. The district court ruled that it never had jurisdiction over the case because the fifteen-employee requirement had not been met, and entered an order to vacate and reverse Arbaugh’s jury verdict. On appeal, Arbaugh argued that the fifteen-employee requirement should be treated as an issue relevant only to the merits of the case and that the jury had already ruled in favor of Arbaugh on the merits. Rejecting Arbaugh’s argument, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals treated the fifteen-employee requirement as a jurisdictional requirement and affirmed the district court’s order.
Question Presented:
Section 701(b) of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act applies the Title VII prohibition against employment discrimination to employers with fifteen or
more employees. Does this provision limit the subject matter jurisdiction of the federal courts, or does it only raise an issue going to the merits of a Title VII claim?
