The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently reinstated an employee's sexual harassment and retaliation suit against a state agency deemed time-barred by a lower court, finding that a jury must determine when the plaintiff or her lawyer first received a right-to-sue letter from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Cephia Hayes sued her employer, the New Jersey Department of Human Services, for claims of sexual harassment and retaliation under Title VII in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. U.S. District Judge Karen M. Williams found that Hayes' suit, Hayes v. New Jersey Department of Human Services, was time-barred because it was filed more than 90 days after the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission notified her or her counsel that it would not pursue her claim, according to the opinion.