O'Donnell v. Vencor Inc.

Pro se plaintiff-appellant Alice Faye O’Donnell (“O’Donnell”) appeals the district court’s dismissal of her employment discrimination claims as time-barred. O’Donnell asserts that the district court should have applied the doctrines of equitable tolling, equitable estoppel, or laches to excuse -her filing her second action after the statute of limitations had expired.

We review de novo whether a claim is barred by a statute of limitations. See Santa Maria v. Pac. Bell, 202 F.3d 1170, 1175 (9th Cir.2000). Because the facts here are undisputed, we review de novo whether to apply equitable tolling. See id. We review for an abuse of discretion the district court’s decision whether to apply equitable estoppel. See id. at 1176 . We review de novo whether laches is available as a matter of law and for an abuse of discretion the district court’s decision whether to apply laches to the facts. See In re Beaty, 306 F.3d 914, 920-21 (9th Cir.2002).

O’Donnell originally timely filed her first complaint asserting a claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq., (“Title VII”), and a claim under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. § 621 , et…