Theresa McINNES, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. STATE OF CALIFORNIA, California, Department of Consumer Affairs, Defendants-Appellees

Plaintiff Theresa Mclnnes appeals from the district court’s adverse grant of summary judgment in her Title VII employment discrimination suit against the State of California and the California Department of Consumer Affairs (“DCA”). The district court held, based on issue preclusion, that Mclnnes’s suit was barred by a prior decision of the California State Personnel Board (“SPB”) awarding Mclnnes damages and other remedies for the same discrimination alleged in her federal complaint. Because unreviewed state administrative decisions lack preclusive effect in subsequent Title VII actions, we reverse.

FACTS

The present suit is but one skirmish in an ongoing battle between Mclnnes and her government employers over sexual harassment and discrimination. Mclnnes commenced her employment with the government of California in 1978, when she joined the California Department of Justice (“DOJ”) as an Associate Governmental Program Analyst. Three years later she filed a complaint with the DOJ, alleging that her supervisors and co-workers had harassed and discriminated against her because of her gender. In June of 1984, Mclnnes and the DOJ entered into a stipulated settlement of her…