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Plunkett v. State3/10/2005
inatory conduct" and "cannot adequately address discrimination in the workplace." Folan, 723 A.2d at 291. Unlike the plaintiff in Folan, Plunkett filed his first complaint in the Superior Court, which has general equitable powers as well as the authority to award compensatory and punitive damages. In contrast with Folan, the Superior Court is vested with jurisdiction over "all other actions arising out of the same transaction or occurrence" as Plunkett's wrongful termination claim, including his FEPA claim. G.L. 1956 § 8-2-13.
The Restatement also recognizes an exception to the general preclusion rules for instances when "formal barriers in fact existed and were operative against a plaintiff in the first action," preventing full presentation of his or her claim. Restatement (Second) Judgments § 26 at cmt. c. The respondent asserts that he could not have included a claim for damages under FEPA in his original lawsuit because the RICHR had not granted him a right-to-sue letter. This Court has held that a plaintiff does not have to exhaust his or her administrative remedies before seeking injunctive relief against claimed discrimination or compensatory damages. In Ward v. City of Pawtucket Police Department, 639 A.2d 1379, 1382 (R.I. 1994), we declared that " he purpose of an injunction is to prevent imminent, irreparable injury. * * * To require exhaustion of administrative remedies before seeking injunctive relief would destroy the effectiveness of such relief * * *."
If respondent were serious in his contention that he was fired because of his age, he could have asserted age and/or disability discrimination as an additional ground for injunctive relief, notwithstanding his lack of a right-to-sue letter. We are satisfied that it was respondent's own choices, not the operation of a formal barrier, that prevented Plunkett from litigating all his issues in one lawsuit.
In Narragansett Electric Co. v. Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights, 118 R.I. 457, 459, 374 A.2d 1022, 1023 (1977), we concluded that it was appropriate to look to employment discrimination decisions of the federal courts when state and federal law run parallel. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), like the RICHR, is empowered to investigate and resolve charges of employment discrimination, including those charges involving age and disability discrimination. Compare 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(a)-(b), and 29 C.F.R. § 1614.105(a) (1999) (granting EEOC investigatory powers over age and disability discrimination claims), with §§ 28-5-7, 28-5-8, 28-5-13(6) (creating RICHR and granting authority to investigate age and disability discrimination claims). Both the federal and state statutory schemes require that a complainant obtain a right-tosue letter from the applicable commission prior to filing a complaint for damages. Compare 29 C.F.R. § 1614.105(d) (setting forth pre-complaint procedures and conditions for receipt of a right-to-sue letter from the EEOC), with § 28-5-24.1(c)(2) (giving complainants ninety days from receipt of a right-to-sue letter from the RICHR to file suit). It is appropriate to consider federal cases that have addressed the issue of whether a plaintiff can rely on the absence of a right-to-sue letter to avoid the bar of res judicata.
Federal courts have held that employment discrimination claimants cannot escape the preclusive effect of a final judgment on state law grounds by arguing the lack of a right-to-sue letter from the EEOC. See, e.g., Jang v. United Technologies Corp., 206 F.3d 1147, 1149 (11th Cir. 2000) (holding disability discrimination claim barred); Brzostowski v. Laidlaw Waste Systems, Inc., 49 F.3d 337, 339-40 (7th Cir. 1995) (holding age discrimination claim barred
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