Blakes v. Gruenberg

Filing 54

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER - Defendant Gurenberg's Motion for Summary Judgment 30 is GRANTED; It is further ORDERED that Plaintiff Blakes' Motion for Extension of Time to Late File her Complaint of Race and Sex Discrimination and Reprisal 47 is DENIED. Signed by District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee on 12/18/2015. (dvanm, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE
EASTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA
ALEXANDRIA DIVISION

GYBRILLA B. BLAKES,
Plaintiff,
Case No. l:14-cv-1652-GBL/IDD

V.

MARTIN J. GRUENBERG, Chairman, Federal

Deposit Insurance Corporation,
Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

THIS MATTER is before the court on Defendant, Martin J. Gruenberg, Chairman of the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC")'s Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 30).

Plaintiff Gybrilla B. Blakes brought this civil action against Defendant alleging race and sex
discrimination, as well as retaliation, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. (Doc. 1).
Defendant asserts that Plaintiffs claims are untimely because Plaintiff did not file her Complaint

in this Court within ninety days of receiving notice of the FDIC's Final Agency Decision

("FAD").

Defendant also asserts that Plaintiff has not presented sufficient claims to merit

equitable tolling (Doc. 31). Plaintiff argues that although her Complaint was filed after the
statute of limitations expired, her claims merit equitable tolling because she was induced or
tricked, by the FDIC, into filing her Complaint late (Doc. 36-1). Specifically, Plaintiff claims

she believed that the FDIC was processing her request to have a settlement agreement from a
prior Equal Employment Opportunity ("EEO") complaint reopened, rather than the FDIC's
issuance of an FAD on the EEO Complaint at issue here. Id. Plaintiff also argues that her claims

merit equitable tolling due to extraordinary circumstances. Id. Namely, that her attorney had to