The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has reinstated an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sex discrimination case against the nation’s largest jewelry retailer, ruling for the first time that courts should not scrutinize the sufficiency of the agency’s pre-suit investigation.
The case, brought in 2008 under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, alleged that Akron, Ohio-based Sterling Jewelers Inc., which operates several jewelry store chains including Kay Jewelers and Jared -The Galleria of Jewelry, had a nationwide practice of discriminating against its female sales employees in both pay and promotion.
