Filed: Jun. 02, 2015
Latest Update: Mar. 02, 2020
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 14-2219 JORDAN M. TONKIN, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. SHADOW MANAGEMENT, INC., d/b/a Platinum Plus, Defendant - Appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Columbia. Joseph F. Anderson, Jr., Senior District Judge. (3:12-cv-00198-JFA) Submitted: May 14, 2015 Decided: June 2, 2015 Before NIEMEYER and AGEE, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge. Affirmed by unpublished
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 14-2219 JORDAN M. TONKIN, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. SHADOW MANAGEMENT, INC., d/b/a Platinum Plus, Defendant - Appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Columbia. Joseph F. Anderson, Jr., Senior District Judge. (3:12-cv-00198-JFA) Submitted: May 14, 2015 Decided: June 2, 2015 Before NIEMEYER and AGEE, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge. Affirmed by unpublished p..
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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 14-2219
JORDAN M. TONKIN,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
v.
SHADOW MANAGEMENT, INC., d/b/a Platinum Plus,
Defendant - Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
South Carolina, at Columbia. Joseph F. Anderson, Jr., Senior
District Judge. (3:12-cv-00198-JFA)
Submitted: May 14, 2015 Decided: June 2, 2015
Before NIEMEYER and AGEE, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior
Circuit Judge.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Lovic A. Brooks, III, JANIK, L.L.P. Columbia, South Carolina,
for Appellant. Christopher Scot McDonald, Richard James Morgan,
MCNAIR LAW FIRM, P.A., Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Jordan M. Tonkin appeals the district court’s order
dismissing her Title VII retaliation claim for failure to
exhaust her administrative remedies. On appeal, Tonkin asserts
that the district court erred in finding that failure to exhaust
her administrative remedies deprived the court of subject matter
jurisdiction, and that it erred in finding her retaliation claim
did not relate back to her original EEOC charge in which she
alleged only pregnancy discrimination.
The failure of a plaintiff to exhaust her administrative
remedies with the EEOC deprives the federal courts of subject
matter jurisdiction over the claim. Jones v. Calvert Grp.,
Ltd.,
551 F.3d 297, 300 (4th Cir. 2009). “The scope of the
plaintiff’s right to file a federal lawsuit is determined by the
charge’s contents.”
Id. “Only those discrimination claims
stated in the initial charge, those reasonably related to the
original complaint, and those developed by reasonable
investigation of the original complaint may be maintained in a
subsequent Title VII lawsuit.” Evans v. Techs. Applications &
Serv. Co.,
80 F.3d 954, 963 (4th Cir. 1996). The plaintiff
bears the burden of proving subject matter jurisdiction. Smith
v. Wash. Metro. Area Transit Auth.,
290 F.3d 201, 205 (4th Cir.
2002). We review a dismissal for lack of subject matter
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jurisdiction de novo. Taylor v. Kellogg Brown & Root Servs.,
Inc.,
658 F.3d 402, 408 (4th Cir. 2011).
Applying this standard, we conclude that the district court
properly determined that Tonkin failed to exhaust her
administrative remedies. Her initial EEOC charge alleged only
pregnancy discrimination, and did not contain any facts
involving retaliation. See Sloop v. Mem’l Mission Hosp., Inc.,
198 F.3d 147, 149 (4th Cir. 1999). Additionally, Tonkin had
knowledge of the factual basis for her retaliation claim before
she filed her charge with the EEOC. Moreover, her
discrimination claim and retaliation claim focused on discrete
occurrences; her pregnancy discrimination claim centered on
involuntary maternity leave, while her retaliation claim was
based on her termination. See
Jones, 551 F.3d at 300.
While Tonkin relies heavily on Zipes v. Trans World
Airlines, Inc.,
455 U.S. 385 (1982), and Arbaugh v. Y & H Corp.,
546 U.S. 500 (2006), those cases are unavailing. Arbaugh does
not address exhaustion of administrative remedies.
Id.
Moreover, we have noted that the holding in Zipes is limited to
the untimeliness of an EEOC charge.
Jones, 551 F.3d at 300,
n.2.
Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court.
We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal
3
contentions are adequately presented in the materials before
this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED
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