It's important for plaintiffs to be aware that, once you initiate litigation, you no longer retain the initiative in all instances.
A post from the Blog of Legal Times lays out the basics. Plaintiff sued in state court; the employer removed the case to federal court and filed an answer. Six months later the plaintiff decided that she wanted to dismiss the complaint voluntarily and filed a motion to do so. The court denied the motion, on the procedurally correct ground that that once an answer is filed a case cannot be dismissed unilaterally by the plaintiff. Thus, the order forced the action to continue.
But why would a defendant turn down a voluntary dismissal? One possibility is that, because an age discrimination case is a fee-shifting case, the defendant may think that it will prevail on the merits and can force the plaintiff to pay their attorney's fees. This would be rare. Another possibility is that the defendant wants further terms in the dismissal, like a "with prejudice" designation, or some other settlement details, like nondisclosure. This has been my experience when my plaintiff wanted to dismiss voluntarily.
In sum, for plaintiffs and their lawyers, while it's important to observe the time limitations in many employment actions and get to the courthouse on time, at the same time you want to look before you leap. That is, there is a "Goldilocks period" where filing your suit will be just right.
