Case: 17-14273 Date Filed: 07/12/2018 Page: 1 of 3
[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
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No. 17-14273
Non-Argument Calendar
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D.C. Docket No. 4:15-cv-10222-JEM
SHARON A. JONES,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE,
Defendant-Appellee.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Florida
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(July 12, 2018)
Before TJOFLAT, NEWSOM, and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
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Sharon Jones, proceeding pro se, appeals from the district court’s dismissal
of her amended complaint for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. On appeal, Jones
argues that the district court erred in granting the motion to dismiss with prejudice
filed by the National Security Agency (“NSA”). We review de novo a district
court’s grant of a motion to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.
Barbour v. Haley, 471 F.3d 1222, 1225 (11th Cir. 2006).
Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it is unlawful for an
employer to “discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation,
terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race,
color, religion, sex, or national origin.” 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(1). In cases of
federal employee discrimination, Congress granted the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) the power to issue “final, binding decisions
ordering corrective action by the agency employer.” Moore v. Devine, 780 F.2d
1559, 1562 (11th Cir. 1986).
Following the conclusion of the EEOC’s administrative process, a federal
employee may either (1) sue to enforce the administrative decision with which an
agency has failed to comply; or (2) if unhappy with the EEOC’s decision, bring a
claim in federal district court and obtain the same de novo review that a private
sector employee receives in a Title VII action. See Ellis v. England, 432 F.3d
1321, 1324 (11th Cir. 2005); see also 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-16(c).
2
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Here, the district court erred in its determination that it did not have subject-
matter jurisdiction. Jones, a federal employee, can obtain de novo review of her
discrimination claim in federal court after the EEOC’s administrative process is
complete. Ellis, 432 F.3d at 1324. Under Ellis, Jones is entitled to have her
discrimination claim tried de novo in the district court. It is true that such de novo
trial must encompass both liability and remedy; our Ellis decision establishes that
Jones cannot protect the EEOC liability ruling in her favor and submit only the
remedy issue to trial in the district court. Id. at 1325.
In this case we need not decide whether Jones’ return of the EEOC award to
the NSA is a precondition1 to Jones’ entitlement to her de novo trial because her
final position in the district court was that “she has agreed to return all previously
received proceeds” pursuant to the EEOC award. Doc. 46, 3–4. In her brief on
appeal, Jones reiterates this agreement. Pursuant to this agreement, we contemplate
that the district court on remand will promptly order Jones either to repay that
amount to the NSA or place same in escrow with the court.
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the district court is
VACATED AND REMANDED.
1
Whether or not that might be a precondition, it is certainly not a matter of the subject matter
jurisdiction of the district court.
3