Christine Cubelo v. Hearing Lab Technology, LLC

Summary

The United States District Court for the District of Maryland granted Hearing Lab Technology, LLC's motion to dismiss Christine Cubelo's disability discrimination, failure-to-accommodate, and retaliation claims. The court held that Cubelo filed suit 92 days after receiving her EEOC right-to-sue notice, exceeding the applicable 90-day filing period, and found no basis for equitable tolling. The complaint was dismissed without prejudice.

Holdings

1. Claims under the ADA and Title VII requiring suit within 90 days after issuance of the right-to-sue notice are untimely when filed 92 days after the plaintiff received the notice.
2. The MFEPA claims were also untimely because MFEPA incorporates the exhaustion and filing requirements of its federal statutory analogues, including the 90-day period.
3. Equitable tolling did not apply because Cubelo showed only an inadvertent filing error and lack of prejudice, not circumstances external to her conduct making enforcement unconscionable or producing gross injustice.
4. The 90-day filing requirement was properly treated as a nonjurisdictional limitations defense addressed under Rule 12(b)(6), not as a subject-matter-jurisdiction defect.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the ADA and Title VII claims were barred because the complaint was filed more than 90 days after Cubelo received the EEOC right-to-sue notice.
2. Whether the MFEPA claims were subject to the same 90-day filing requirement.
3. Whether equitable tolling, waiver, or estoppel excused the untimely filing.
4. Whether the deadline was properly addressed under Rule 12(b)(6) rather than as a jurisdictional defect.

Disposition

dismissed