Artis v. District of Columbia, 583 U.S. ___, 138 S. Ct. 594 (2018)

Stephanie Artis filed a Title VII employment discrimination case against her employer, the District of Columbia, which was eventually dismissed on summary judgment by the district court; the district court declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the remaining state-law claims that were included in the complaint. Artis then refiled her state law claims in state court 59 days after dismissal of her federal lawsuit. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1367(d), the state law statute of limitations shall be “tolled while the claim is pending [in federal court] and for a period of 30 days after it is dismissed unless State law provides for a longer tolling period.” Reversing the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, the United States Supreme Court held in a 5-4 opinion (Chief Justice Roberts voting with the majority) that “tolling” means “to hold [the state limitations period] in abeyance, i.e., to stop the clock” rather than to merely provide a 30-day grace period after dismissal of the federal court action.