Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, PROCEDURE—8th Cir.: Fired patient services coordinator’s suit, filed minutes after midnight, was untimely, (Apr 28, 2025)

By Jason Albright, J.D.

“Even assuming that a computer glitch delayed filing,” said the court, the plaintiff “assumed that risk by waiting until the last minute.”

A fired patient services coordinator who sued her former employer for race, age, and disability discrimination, and retaliation—and missed the 90-day filing deadline by eight minutes—failed to timely file suit, the Eighth Circuit affirmed. She alleged that the late filing date appeared on the complaint due to a “computer glitch” that occurred when her attorney filed a civil cover sheet with the complaint the night it was due, but the docket showed that the complaint was filed at 12:08 the next morning, and the district court did not err in declining to apply equitable tolling, the appeals court found (Jackson v. Hennepin Healthcare System, Inc., No. 24-1590 (8th Cir. Apr. 25, 2025)).

Patient services coordinator. The plaintiff worked as a patient services coordinator in Hennepin Healthcare’s radiology department, and the company terminated her employment in October 2022.

EEOC charge. In May 2021, she filed a charge of discrimination against Hennepin Healthcare with the EEOC. She alleged discrimination based on race, age, and disability, and retaliation for reporting discrimination. On May 5, 2023, the EEOC issued a right to sue letter.

Complaint. On August 4, 2023, she filed a complaint against Hennepin Healthcare. She alleged violations of Title VII, the ADA, and the ADEA. She also sued a supervisor but later withdrew that claim and did not pursue it on appeal.

Dismissed as untimely. The district court granted Hennepin Healthcare’s motion to dismiss the action on the ground that the complaint was untimely filed. The court concluded alternatively that the former employee failed to state a claim and that she had not properly exhausted her administrative remedies.

She appealed to the Eighth Circuit.

“Computer glitch”? Affirming, the appeals court rejected the former patient services coordinator’s argument that the late filing date appeared on the complaint due to a “computer glitch” that occurred when her attorney filed a civil cover sheet with the complaint the night it was due. The record, the Eighth Circuit observed, “does not support [her] surmise. The docket shows that the complaint was filed at 12:08 a.m. on August 4. A civil cover sheet was filed in error at 12:08 a.m. on August 4 and then re-filed at 11:11 a.m. on August 7. There is no record that [she] filed a civil cover sheet or a complaint on August 3. The complaint was therefore untimely.”

No tolling. Nor did the district court err in declining to apply equitable tolling. The employee was represented by counsel, observed the appeals court, and she had adequate notice of the 90-day deadline to file her suit. And there was no affirmative misconduct by the employer or misleading action by the court. She “simply waited until the eleventh hour to file her complaint, and she did not accomplish the task by the deadline.” Even assuming that a computer glitch delayed filing, the former employee “assumed that risk by waiting until the last minute.”

The case is No. 24-1590.

Judge: Colloton, S.

Attorneys: Damon Ward (The Ward Law Group) for Latonya Jackson. Bethany Marie Belle Isle, Hennepin County Attorney's Office, for Hennepin Healthcare System, Inc.

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