1. What do you think of the court’s quote from the Budinsky case about classification of race being stupid and inaccurate? Explain.

2. Do you think it matters whether someone’s category is called “race” vs. “ethnicity”? Explain.

3. Do you agree with the court that the employee should not be penalized for checking the race box? Explain.

Issue: Whether the court has jurisdiction over the case when the employee, after the EEOC’s determination and before bringing the case to court, amends the complaint to include race discriminations. Initial claims by the employee were based on national origin discrimination.

Facts: A Hispanic employee sued his employer for national origin discrimination, alleging he was the only Hispanic and was subjected to harassment. When filing his claim with EEOC, he checked the box for national origin discrimination, but later amended it to also include race discrimination. The court had to decide if this was permissible.

Decision: Due to Alonzo’s pronouncement that he was discriminated against because he is an Hispanic, because it has not been established that the designation of being an Hispanic precludes a claim of racial discrimination, and given the uncertainty among courts as to whether “Hispanic” is better characterized as a race or a national origin, Alonzo’s claims of racial discrimination are reasonably related to his claims of national origin discrimination as they fall within the reasonable scope of EEOC investigation. Accordingly, the defendants’ motion for judgment on the pleadings regarding the claims premised on racial discrimination was denied.