The Panel required petitioner to include within his § 1983 complaint for racial discrimination against School Board members individually his separate Title VII claim against the Board itself for workplace discrimination —a claim which had not yet accrued —or forfeit this inchoate claim to the bar of res judicata. The question presented is:

Does this ruling square with settled law that res judicata cannot bar claims against a new defendant emerging after petitioner filed his initial lawsuit and does it undermine Congress' intent that Title VII be available as an independent, parallel remedy with § 1983 so that victims of workplace discrimination have full redress for their injuries?

Does the Panel's ruling improperly apply res judicata to bar a Title VII claim against a school board when the claim had not yet accrued at the time of the initial § 1983 lawsuit?