Brady

ORDER GRANTING SUMMARY JUDGMENT

This is an action for a declaratory judgment on the issue of whether the waiver of the United States’ sovereign immunity from interest on back pay awards, contained in the Back Pay Act, 5 U.S.C. § 5596 , applies to actions filed under Title VII. The matter came before the Court for hearing on the parties’ cross motions for summary judgment on June 27, 1990. For the reasons discussed herein, the Court hereby grants summary judgment in favor of the plaintiff.

FACTS

In 1977, the plaintiff filed a claim of race and sex discrimination against her employer, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), alleging that she had been denied a step promotion that she was due to receive. She pursued her claim through the internal Equal Employment Opportunity (“EEO”) channels of the IRS. In 1980, shortly before her claim was to be heard by an EEO hearing officer, the plaintiff was offered a settlement by the IRS. The agency offered her the promotion, but informed her in writing that, under the applicable law and regulations of the agency, she was not entitled to a retroactive promotion for the three years that her action had been pending. Relying on this…