On September 28, 2010, Judge Lindsay denied Hobson Air Conditioning, Inc.’s motion to dismiss the EEOC’s complaint (pdf copy of order here). The EEOC’s complaint alleges that Hobson violated federal employment discrimination laws by subjecting one of its female employees to a hostile work environment and constructively discharging her. Although Judge Lindsay ultimately found that the EEOC’s complaint passed muster under Rule 8(a), he was not happy about the complaint’s lack of factual detail:
[I]n this case, the court was required to pore over the Complaint and analyze the parties’ written materials. All of this could have been avoided had Plaintiff taken about twenty minutes to add a few sentences with more factual detail. Such approach conserves scarce judicial resources and saves valuable time for the litigants. The court does not understand a “just-enough-to-get-by” approach in which Plaintiff unnecessarily runs the risk of being ordered to replead or having the action dismissed. If Plaintiff truly wishes to avoid challenges to its pleadings in the future, it should, at least, plead with the level of specificity in [the Supreme Court’s] Swierkiewicz [decision]. The court would summarily deny a motion to dismiss if the pleadings meet that level of specificity.
Hobson Air Conditioning is represented by Harry Harris, of The Harris Law Firm, and Richard Lee Griffin, of The Law Office of Richard Lee Griffin.