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Plunkett v. State3/10/2005
); Woods v. Dunlop Tire Corp., 972 F.2d 36, 38-41 (2d Cir. 1992) (holding race and gender discrimination claim barred). These decisions have rested upon a plaintiff's ability to control his or her lawsuit. See Jang, 206 F.3d at 1149 (relying on plaintiff's duty to request a right-to-sue letter as well as a plaintiff's ability to stay proceedings and amend his or her complaint); Brzostowski, 49 F.3d at 339 ("[The plaintiff] could have delayed the filing of his first suit or requested that the court postpone or stay the first case. What he cannot do, as he did here, is split causes of action and use different theories of recovery as separate bases for multiple suits."); Woods, 972 F.2d at 41 (holding plaintiff's claim barred because she failed to take the "minimal steps necessary to preserve each claim" by either requesting a stay pending administrative proceedings or amending her original claim). We deem these principles wholly applicable to the case at bar.
The respondent has steered his own course. He embarked on the pursuit of damages for alleged discrimination as early as April 23, 2001, at least a week before submitting his original claim to a justice of the Superior Court. Instead of alerting the Superior Court justice to the pending charge with the commission, Plunkett remained silent and fast-tracked the litigation. The respondent had several options available to him to avoid today's result. He could have requested a stay of proceedings pending administrative review of his discrimination charge. Alternatively, he could have moved forward with his pursuit of a preliminary injunction and later added the discrimination claim. After losing the initial case in Superior Court, the respondent turned to this Court for appellate review. He could have moved to remand the case to Superior Court to add a discrimination claim based on the right-to-sue letter. The respondent did none of these things. The respondent has had his day in court and our decision today "'ensures that judicial resources are not wasted on multiple and possibly inconsistent resolutions of the same lawsuit.'" ElGabri, 681 A.2d at 275.
Conclusion
For the reasons stated herein, we grant the petition for certiorari and quash the order of the Superior Court. The record in this case is remanded to the Superior Court with directions to enter judgment in favor of the petitioner.
Chief Justice Williams did not participate.
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