The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission got a slapdown recently from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. The decision, which held that an EEOC subpoena was overbroad and sought information that was not relevant to the case, reinforces the limits of the agency's subpoena and discovery authority and prohibits the EEOC from trying to initiate "pattern and practice" discovery without a proper aggregation of claims.

In other words, the decision is good news for employers.

EEOC v. Burlington Northern Santa Fe Ry. Co.

The EEOC generally has the authority to subpoena "any evidence of any person being investigated" as long as the evidence "related to the unlawful employment practices … and is relevant to the charge under investigation."