The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) requires that charges be filed with the EEOC before a lawsuit may be filed. In this case, the Second Circuit ruled that filing an EEOC Intake Questionnaire, and not a different "Charge" form, satisfies the requirement.
Since the term "charge" is not defined in the statute, some courts say all that is needed is a minimal writing that "generally describes the alleged discriminatory acts," and that the individual exhibit some intent to have the EEOC initiate an investigation.
On February 27, 2008, the Supreme Court agreed, ruling that an allegation of age discrimination against an employer is considered a valid "charge" if it must be reasonably construed as a request for the agency to take remedial action to protect the employee's rights or otherwise settle a dispute between the employer and the employee. The ruling means that formalistic charging documents are not required as long as they are reasonably viewed as a request for action by the agency. The Court generally deferred to the EEOC's interpretation of its request-to-act requirements, even though the agency did not follow up on the charge in this case. The bottom line: more documents filed at the EEOC will be considered charges that enable plaintiffs to eventually file suit against their employers.