Tippins v. Common Ground

Summary

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan addresses Common Ground’s motion to dismiss Myesha Tippins’s employment action asserting claims under the FMLA, ADA, and Michigan PWDCRA. The court holds that the ADA claims are barred by the 90-day filing period and dismisses them with prejudice, declining to apply equitable tolling. The court denies without prejudice dismissal of the FMLA claims and retains supplemental jurisdiction over the state-law claims.

Holdings

1. The ADA claims were barred by the ninety-day limitations period because the complaint showed on its face that the claims were filed more than ninety days after the EEOC right-to-sue notice.
2. The filing of the prior complaint, which was dismissed without prejudice for failure to perfect service, did not toll the ADA statutory filing period.
3. Equitable tolling did not apply because Plaintiff failed to diligently effect service and identified no circumstances beyond her control that prevented timely compliance.
4. The court denied dismissal of the FMLA claims without prejudice because Defendant did not move to dismiss them on statute-of-limitations grounds, and the court would not make the parties' arguments for them.
5. The court declined to dismiss the Michigan PWDCRA claims for lack of supplemental jurisdiction because the FMLA claims remained pending along with the state-law claims.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the ADA claims were barred by the ninety-day limitations period after the earlier action was dismissed without prejudice for failure to perfect service.
2. Whether the filing of the earlier action tolled the ADA limitations period or justified equitable tolling.
3. Whether the FMLA claims should be dismissed as untimely when Defendant did not raise the FMLA limitations defense.
4. Whether the court should decline supplemental jurisdiction over the Michigan PWDCRA claims after dismissing the ADA claims while the FMLA claims remained pending.

Disposition

other