Title VII—Chapter 21—Limitations Period—Relation-Back Doctrine.

Barrett v. American Airlines, Inc., 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 21336 (5th Cir. 2017) (unpublished). After completing administrative proceedings the plaintiff filed a Chapter 21 discrimination claim in a state court alleging only state law claims. But the state law claim was barred because it was not filed within two years of the filing of the state administrative charge. Tex. Lab. Code § 21.256. The plaintiff then amended her petition to add Title VII claims. After removal to federal court, the district court ruled that the Title VII claims were also barred because they were first filed in the amended petition outside Title VII’s 90-day time limit for filing suit after receipt of the EEOC notice of right to sue. The federal claim did not relate back to the filing of the state law claim because, under Texas civil law, there is no relation back to an earlier pleading that was subject to a plea of limitation when the pleading was filed. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.068.