Following U.S. Supreme Court Review, Ninth Circuit Remands EEOC Subpoena Case

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Seyfarth Synopsis: After the U.S. Supreme Court clarified in McLane Co. v. EEOC, No. 15-1248, 2017 U.S. LEXIS 2327 (U.S. 2017), that the scope of review for employers facing EEOC administrative subpoenas was the abuse-of-discretion standard, a relatively high bar of review, the Ninth Circuit applied that standard of review on remand and vacated the District Court’s original decision that denied the enforcement of an EEOC subpoena.

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An often contentious issue in EEOC investigations involves the scope of administrative subpoenas, which can be burdensome for employers when the subpoenas seek a broad range of company-wide information.  When analyzing the standard of review for decisions relating to the enforcement of EEOC subpoenas, in McLane Co. v. EEOC, No. 15-1248, 2017 U.S. LEXIS 2327 (U.S. Apr. 3, 2017), the U.S. Supreme Court held that such decisions were examined under an abuse-of-discretion standard.  The abuse-of-discretion standard sets a relatively high bar for review, as we blogged about here.  Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s remand to the Ninth Circuit in McLane, the Ninth Circuit vacated the District Court’s denial of enforcement of the subpoena and sent the matter back to the District Court for further proceedings.  EEOC v. McLane Co., No. 13-15126, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 9027 (9th Cir. May 24, 2017).

For employers, this is an important case to follow as it provides clarification as to the standard of review used when Appellate Courts address district court subpoena enforcement decisions.

Background

The EEOC issued an administrative subpoena as part of its investigation into a charge of discrimination filed by a former employee of a McLane subsidiary.  Id. at *3.  The employee alleged that McLane discriminated against her on the basis of sex when it fired her after she failed to pass a physical capability strength test.  Relevant here, the subpoena requested “pedigree information” (name, Social Security number, last known address, and telephone number) for employees or prospective employees who took the test.  Following the Court’s precedent at the time, the Ninth Circuit applied a de novo review to the District Court’s ruling that the pedigree information was not relevant to the EEOC’s investigation.  Id. at *3-4.  The U.S. Supreme Court vacated the Ninth Circuit’s judgment after holding that a district court’s decision whether to enforce an EEOC subpoena should be reviewed for abuse of discretion.  The U.S. Supreme Court remanded the case to the Ninth Circuit so that the Ninth Circuit could re-evaluate the District Court’s ruling under the proper standard of review.

 The Ninth Circuit’s Decision On Remand

After reviewing the District Court’s decision under the abuse-of-discretion standard, the Ninth Circuit still held that the District Court abused its discretion by denying enforcement of the subpoena.  Id. at *4.  The District Court found that the pedigree information was not relevant “at this stage” of the EEOC’s investigation because the evidence McLane had already produced would “enable the [EEOC] to determine whether the [strength test] systematically discriminates on the basis of gender.”  Id.  The Ninth Circuit rejected this approach, noting that the District Court’s ruling was based on the wrong standard for relevance.  The Ninth Circuit stated that under Title VII, the EEOC may obtain evidence if it relates to unlawful employment practices and is relevant to the charge under investigation.  Quoting EEOC v. Shell Oil Co., 466 U.S. 54, 68-69 (1984), the Ninth Circuit opined that the relevance standard encompasses “virtually any material that might cast light on the allegations against the employer.”  Id. at *5.

Applying Shell Oil, the Ninth Circuit found that the pedigree information was relevant to the EEOC’s investigation since conversations with other McLane employees and applicants who have taken the strength test “might cast light” on the allegations against McLane.  Id.  McLane argued that, given all of the other information it had produced, the EEOC could not show that the production of nationwide pedigree information was relevant to the Charge or its investigation under either a disparate treatment or disparate impact theory.  Id. at *6. The Ninth Circuit construed the District Court’s application of relevance to be a heightened “necessity” standard, and noted that the governing standard was “relevance,” not “necessity.”  Id.

The Ninth Circuit then found that the District Court erred when it held that pedigree information was irrelevant “at this stage” of the investigation.  Id.  Rejecting the District Court’s conclusion that the EEOC did not need pedigree information to make a preliminary determination as to whether use of the strength test resulted in systemic discrimination, the Ninth Circuit held that the EEOC’s need for the evidence—or lack thereof—did not factor into the relevance determination.  Id. at *6-7. While McLane had argued that the pedigree information was not relevant because the charge alleged only a “neutrally applied” strength test, which by definition cannot give rise to disparate treatment, systemic or otherwise, the Ninth Circuit rejected this approach, holding “[t]he very purpose of the EEOC’s investigation is to determine whether the test is being neutrally applied; the EEOC does not have to take McLane’s word for it on that score.”  Id. at *7.  Accordingly, the Ninth Circuit held that because the District Court based its ruling on an incorrect view of relevance, it necessarily abused its discretion when it held that the pedigree information was not relevant to the EEOC’s investigation.

The Ninth Circuit concluded by noting that on remand, McLane was free to renew its argument that the EEOC’s request for pedigree information was unduly burdensome.  Id. at *8. Further, explaining that it did not reach the issue in its original decision, the Ninth Circuit instructed that “[o]n remand, the district court should also resolve whether producing a second category of evidence — the reasons test takers were terminated — would be unduly burdensome to McLane.”  Id.  Accordingly, the Ninth Circuit vacated the District Court’s judgment and remanded for further proceedings.

Implications For Employers

As employers who are confronted with EEOC subpoenas may ultimately find themselves in a subpoena enforcement action, the McLane case is a must-follow in terms of what standard of review will be applied if those district court decisions are later reviewed.  The U.S. Supreme Court’s adoption of the more “hands off” abuse-of-discretion standard means that greater weight will be given to district court decisions.  Nonetheless, the Ninth Circuit’s ruling here illustrates that appellate courts may still be willing to overturn district court decisions to enforce or quash EEOC subpoenas depending on the circumstances.  The decision will also, no doubt, be cited by an emboldened EEOC as authority for its position that expansive pedigree information is relevant in a broad swath of cases.  Understanding these trends will provide useful guidance for employers when deciding if and how to challenge what often can be burdensome demands for information from the EEOC.

DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.

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