ADOLPH RICE, Appellant v. RUSSELL-STANLEY, L.P., Appellee, 131 S.W.3d 510

Summary

The employee was terminated and replaced by a younger employee. He signed a discrimination complaint addressing it to both the TCHR and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and filed suit after the EEOC sent him notice of his right to sue. There was no evidence, however, of a right-to-sue letter from TCHR. The employer asserted only that basis for its summary judgment motion. It did not contest whether the employee actually received a notice of dismissal or failure to resolve from the TCHR. In reversing summary judgment for the employer on the state-law claim, the court held that it was the entitlement to the right-to-sue letter that exhausted a complainant's administrative remedies. The letter itself was not part of the exhaustion requirement, only notice of exhaustion. Because the right-to-sue letter was not part of the exhaustion of administrative remedies requirement, the employee was not required to present evidence that he received a right-to-sue letter from the ...