The ruling provided guidance on what would constitute an adequate filing under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA).

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed, holding that the questionnaire satisfied the charge requirement even though the EEOC did not take action.

[2][5][6][7] The Court of Appeals interpreted the term "charge" to include documents filed by Kennedy, since a definition was not provided by the ADEA.

[8] The Court also stated that although this standard would allow a wide range of documents to qualify as charges, this result was consistent with the ADEA's setup where laypersons instead of lawyers are expected to initiate the administrative process.

The Court considered this result "unfortunate" but "unavoidable," and stated that the EEOC bears the responsibility to establish a more clear and consistent process in order to avoid future similar misunderstandings and consequences.

We will continue to review our procedures as the Court has suggested to ensure that they are clear to the public and consistent with our statutes and regulations.