Kraus v. Presidio Trust Facilities Division/Residential Management Branch
Filed July 23, 2009
Cite as 07-17177

Exhaustion of Remedy Requirement Sufficiently Complied With

Vickey Kraus (Kraus), an Africa-American federal employee and a lesbian, filed several cases of employment discrimination and retaliation against Presidio Trust Facilities Division (Presidio Trust).

Kraus filed a first equal employment opportunity (EEO) suit with Presidio Trust alleging three different instances of discrimination and retaliation prompted by her wanting to gain access to an all male vanpool program.

Kraus’s case was heard by an administrative judge (ALJ) and granted Presidio’s Trust’s motion for summary judgment to all three claims. Later, Presidio Trust adopted ALJ’s decision.

As a result, Kraus appealed to the Office of Federal Operations (OFO) of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) pursuant to 29 C.F.R.

While the appeal was still pending, Kraus filed a second complaint which has the same allegations as that of the first. Subsequently, Kraus, as to her first complaint, was notified that OFO affirmed arguments of Presidio Trust in full.

Consequently, Kraus filed a civil suit alleging the same claims as that of her first and second complaints. Upon Presidio’s motion, the district court entered a summary judgment for Presidio Trust. One of the reasons given by the district court in dismissing some of Kraus’s claims was that she failed to exhaust remedies.

The United States Court of Appeals held that the district court erred in finding that Kraus failed to satisfy 29 C.F.R. Sec. 1614.105’s administrative exhaustion requirements. The fact that Kraus filed a complaint with an EEO officer, regardless of the latter’s title was sufficient compliance with the requirement of exhaustion of remedies.