Fellows v. Universal Restaurants Inc‪.‬

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b) certification, the plaintiff Ms. Fellows appeals from an interlocutory order dismissing the class action allegations of her suit against the defendant, her former employer ("Universal"). Her complaint is founded upon employment discrimination against her and other females in violation of Title VII ("Equal Employment Opportunities") of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e et seq. The district court held that it did not have jurisdiction over the class allegations of Ms. Fellows complaint because she did not specifically state them in her initial charge of employment discrimination filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("the EEOC"), nor had the Commissions administrative investigation included them within its scope. We reverse, finding that a dismissal for lack of jurisdiction is inappropriate because a nonfrivolous federal question was presented that requires the exercise of jurisdiction by the district court, and because the initial charges of discrimination before the EEOC were sufficiently like or related to those asserted by the class action as to support a Title VII cause of action for the class.