St. Mary's Law Journal
Abstract
Federal employment discrimination statutes condition a claimant’s right to sue on timely receipt of a “right-to-sue” notice from the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Courts have historically treated certified mail slips as sufficient to trigger a claimant’s ninety-day filing window, regardless of when the claimant opened or retrieved the letter. In the digital era, the EEOC increasingly issues notices through email and its online Public Portal, raising questions about when electronic notice constitutes “receipt.”
This Article examines recent federal appellate court decisions—Lax v. Mayorkas, McDonald v. St. Louis University, and García-Gesualdo v. Honeywell Aerospace of Puerto Rico, Inc.—that address whether email notices and portal hyperlinks trigger the ninety-day filing period. It argues that the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit correctly held that receipt of an email from the EEOC containing a hyperlink begins the filing window, whereas the First Circuit improperly imposed heightened notice requirements absent from federal antidiscrimination laws and their implementing regulations.
This Article ultimately concludes that a hyperlink constitutes a valid “digital transmission” under 29 C.F.R. § 1601.3(b), and that equitable tolling remains available as a safeguard for claimants truly unable to access notice through no fault of their own.
First Page
121
Last Page
149
Date Created
9-23-2026
Publisher
St. Mary's Law Journal
Editor
Savannah Wisian
Recommended Citation
Robert J. Toth Jr.,
Click to Sue: Defining Receipt of EEOC Notices in the Digital Age,
58
St. Mary's L.J.
121
(2026).
Available at:
https://commons.stmarytx.edu/thestmaryslawjournal/vol58/iss1/4
