Jones v. R.R. Donnelley & Sons
Plaintiffs brought a class-action suit against their former employer, R.R. Donnelley & Sons, alleging race discrimination and the creation of a hostile work environment. Donnelley raised the affirmative defense that the statute of limitations had passed for all plaintiffs whose employment had concluded more than two years prior to filing suit. The suit was brought under the Civil Rights Act of 1991, which amended 42 U.S.C. § 1981. Most courts have interpreted § 1981 to incorporate a state's statute of limitations for personal injury lawsuits, which in this case was two years. However, in 1990 Congress passed 28 U.S.C. § 1658, which created a "catch-all" statute of limitations of four years for all subsequent causes of action created by an act of Congress. The district court found that the four-year statute of limitations was applicable because the Civil Rights Act of 1991 was an act of Congress enacted after § 1658 came into effect. The court of appeals reversed, holding that amendments to statutes existing before § 1658 was passed are not acts that fall under the four-year catch-all, and therefore the proper statute of limitations was two years.
Question Presented:
Does the four-year "catch-all" statute of limitations period of 28 U.S.C. § 1658 apply to new causes of action created by the Civil Rights Act of 1991, which were codified at 42 U.S.C. § 1981(a)
and (b)?
