Susan Serpe v. Four-Phase Systems, Inc.

Susan Serpe (Serpe), plaintiff and appellant, brought this Title VII (42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq.) action against Four-Phase Systems, Inc. (Four-Phase), defendant and appellee, alleging several acts of sex discrimination. The trial court made findings and conclusions, and on the basis of them a judgment was entered for defendant-appellee. This appeal followed.

The district court’s findings of fact disposed of all but one of Serpe’s claims on the merits. The evidence was in conflict, there was substantial evidence supporting the court’s findings, and they cannot be disturbed on appeal.

The one exception concerns a claim by Serpe that, because she is a woman, Four-Phase would not transfer her from the technical division to the sales division. Employees in the sales division received greater compensation than those at a comparable level in the technical division. The district court did not reach the merits of this claim but denied it on the grounds that it had not been presented to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and that in any event it was time-barred.

In a Title VII action, the subject matter of the court’s jurisdiction extends only to those claims made before…