Wednesday, November 3, 1999
Deneace M. Joshua v. City of Gainesville

No. 94,935

Alachua County


Facts
Under the Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992, persons alleging unlawful discrimination by an employer must file a complaint with a commission that is required to making findings within 180 days. If it finds "reasonable cause" to believe discrimination occurred, the complaining party must file suit with one year of the finding. If the commission fails to make findings in 180 days, then "reasonable cause" is presumed to exist. Here, Joshua filed her complaint against her employer, the City of Gainesville, on July 21, 1995, but the commission failed to make any findings. She then sued the City on January 20, 1998, but the trial court dismissed it as time-barred. The First District Court affirmed.