ASUNCION V. HEGSETH
Split Score
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Case Summary
Disposition
Reversed
The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court’s dismissal of Rodolfo T. Asuncion, Jr.’s Rehabilitation Act suit, holding that the 90-day statute of limitations for filing a civil action did not begin until Asuncion’s attorney actually received an accessible, decrypted copy of the final agency decision. The court alternatively found equitable tolling warranted because the agency’s repeated transmission errors constituted extraordinary circumstances despite diligent efforts by counsel.
Circuit Split Identified
Legal Issue
When electronically transmitted notice of a final agency decision/right-to-sue letter triggers the 90-day filing period for Title VII/Rehabilitation Act actions.
Circuit Positions
90-day period begins upon initial electronic notification containing a link or encrypted attachment, regardless of actual ability to open the document.
90-day period begins only when the claimant or counsel has effective access to the decision or receives an email that unambiguously conveys the final decision and the 90-day deadline.
Conflict Summary
The Seventh and Eighth Circuits start the 90-day period when the claimant receives an email containing a link or encrypted attachment to the decision, even if the claimant cannot yet open it. The First and Ninth Circuits require that the claimant or counsel have effective access to the contents of the decision (or an email that unambiguously conveys the final decision and 90-day deadline) before the limitations period begins.