E-Alert Item: Ninth Circuit Says Biased Acts From Long Ago Can Support Lawsuit

Several African-American employees at the Naval Aviation Depot North Island in San Diego sued their employer, claiming that African-American employees at the NADNI were denied promotions over a several-year period. The Ninth Circuit said the employees couldn’t sue over many of the promotions because the employees had failed to file complaints about those promotions within the 45-day limitations period in which federal employees must file a discrimination complaint following an allegedly illegal act. However, said the court, those time-barred claims could still be used as “background” evidence to support the employee’s timely claims of promotion discrimination.