## Facts

- Shannon Ferrari worked for E-Rate Consulting Services, LLC for approximately three weeks in summer 2007; Jonathan Slaughter owned E-Rate.
- Ferrari alleged Slaughter sexually harassed her during employment and that she quit on July 27, 2007.
- On January 10, 2008, Ferrari filed an EEOC charge alleging employment discrimination.
- On January 12, 2008, E-Rate and Slaughter sued Ferrari in Alabama state court for defamation-related torts and interference with business relations based on alleged statements Ferrari made about them.
- On February 14, 2008, Ferrari answered the state complaint without asserting counterclaims.
- On November 16, 2008, Ferrari received an EEOC right-to-sue letter.
- On January 21, 2009, Ferrari filed a federal action asserting Title VII claims (hostile work environment/sexual harassment, constructive discharge, retaliation) and Alabama tort claims (assault and battery; outrage).

## Issues

1. Whether Ferrari’s Title VII claims were compulsory counterclaims in the earlier Alabama state action even though she had not yet received an EEOC right-to-sue letter when she filed her state-court answer.
2. Whether Ferrari’s Alabama tort claims for assault and battery and outrage were compulsory counterclaims that existed and were mature when she filed her state-court answer, thereby barring later litigation.

## Decision

- The court granted the defendants’ Rule 12(b)(6) motions in part and denied them in part.
- The motions were denied as to the Title VII claims because those claims were not mature when Ferrari answered in state court.
- The motions were granted as to the Alabama tort claims for assault and battery and outrage, which were dismissed with prejudice as barred compulsory counterclaims.

## Legal Principles

- Under Alabama Rule of Civil Procedure 13(a), a counterclaim is compulsory only if it both (a) arises out of the same transaction or occurrence as the opposing party’s claim and (b) exists and is mature when the responsive pleading is served.
- A Title VII claim is not mature for suit until administrative prerequisites are satisfied; receipt of an EEOC right-to-sue letter is a condition precedent to filing a Title VII action.
- Claims that are contingent or unmatured at the time of the earlier answer are not compulsory counterclaims and may be brought later.
- State-law tort claims arising from alleged workplace conduct (such as assault and battery and outrage) generally accrue at the time of the conduct and do not depend on EEOC exhaustion; if not pleaded as compulsory counterclaims when required, they are barred in a later action.

## Conclusion

The court held that Ferrari’s Title VII claims could proceed because they were not mature until she received an EEOC right-to-sue letter after her state-court answer, but it dismissed her Alabama tort claims with prejudice because they were mature compulsory counterclaims that should have been asserted in the earlier state litigation.


Ferrari v. E-Rate Consulting Servs., L.L.C., 655 F. Supp. 2d 1194 (M.D. Ala. 2009)