Jordan Tonkin v. Shadow Management, Inc.

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case number: 3:12-cv-00198-JFA. Copies to all parties and the district court. [999594306]. [14-2219]

Appeal: 14-2219

Doc: 21

Filed: 06/02/2015

Pg: 1 of 4

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 14-2219

JORDAN M. TONKIN,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
v.
SHADOW MANAGEMENT, INC., d/b/a Platinum Plus,
Defendant - Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
South Carolina, at Columbia.
Joseph F. Anderson, Jr., Senior
District Judge. (3:12-cv-00198-JFA)

Submitted:

May 14, 2015

Decided:

June 2, 2015

Before NIEMEYER and AGEE, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior
Circuit Judge.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Lovic A. Brooks, III, JANIK, L.L.P. Columbia, South Carolina,
for Appellant. Christopher Scot McDonald, Richard James Morgan,
MCNAIR LAW FIRM, P.A., Columbia, South Carolina, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

Appeal: 14-2219

Doc: 21

Filed: 06/02/2015

Pg: 2 of 4

PER CURIAM:
Jordan

M.

dismissing

her

Tonkin
Title

appeals
VII

the

district

retaliation

exhaust her administrative remedies.

claim

court’s
for

order

failure

to

On appeal, Tonkin asserts

that the district court erred in finding that failure to exhaust
her administrative remedies deprived the court of subject matter
jurisdiction, and that it erred in finding her retaliation claim
did not relate back to her original EEOC charge in which she
alleged only pregnancy discrimination.
The failure of a plaintiff to exhaust her administrative
remedies with the EEOC deprives the federal courts of subject
matter

jurisdiction

over

the

claim.

Jones

Ltd., 551 F.3d 297, 300 (4th Cir. 2009).

v.

Calvert

Grp.,

“The scope of the

plaintiff’s right to file a federal lawsuit is determined by the
charge’s

contents.”

Id.

“Only

those

discrimination

claims

stated in the initial charge, those reasonably related to the
original

complaint,

and

those

developed

by

reasonable

investigation of the original complaint may be maintained in a
subsequent Title VII lawsuit.”

Evans v. Techs. Applications &

Serv. Co., 80 F.3d 954, 963 (4th Cir. 1996).

The plaintiff

bears the burden of proving subject matter jurisdiction.

Smith

v. Wash. Metro. Area Transit Auth., 290 F.3d 201, 205 (4th Cir.
2002).

We

review

a

dismissal

2

for

lack

of

subject

matter

Appeal: 14-2219

Doc: 21

Filed: 06/02/2015

jurisdiction de novo.

Pg: 3 of 4

Taylor v. Kellogg Brown & Root Servs.,

Inc., 658 F.3d 402, 408 (4th Cir. 2011).
Applying this standard, we conclude that the district court
properly

determined

that

administrative remedies.
pregnancy

Tonkin

to

exhaust

her

Her initial EEOC charge alleged only

discrimination,

involving retaliation.

failed

and

did

not

contain

any

facts

See Sloop v. Mem’l Mission Hosp., Inc.,

198 F.3d 147, 149 (4th Cir. 1999).

Additionally, Tonkin had

knowledge of the factual basis for her retaliation claim before
she

filed

her

charge

with

the

EEOC.

Moreover,

her

discrimination claim and retaliation claim focused on discrete
occurrences;

her

involuntary

pregnancy

maternity

leave,

based on her termination.
While

Tonkin

discrimination
while

her

claim

centered

retaliation

claim

on
was

See Jones, 551 F.3d at 300.

relies

heavily

on

Zipes

v.

Trans

World

Airlines, Inc., 455 U.S. 385 (1982), and Arbaugh v. Y & H Corp.,
546 U.S. 500 (2006), those cases are unavailing.
not

address

exhaustion

of

administrative

Arbaugh does

remedies.

Id.

Moreover, we have noted that the holding in Zipes is limited to
the untimeliness of an EEOC charge.

Jones, 551 F.3d at 300,

n.2.
Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court.
We

dispense

with

oral

argument

3

because

the

facts

and

legal

Appeal: 14-2219

Doc: 21

contentions

are

Filed: 06/02/2015

adequately

Pg: 4 of 4

presented

in

the

materials

before

this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

AFFIRMED

4