EEOC V. McLane Co., No. 13-15126 (9th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CaseOn remand from the United States Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit vacated the district court's order denying enforcement of an administrative subpoena issued by the EEOC to McLane that was issued as part of an investigation of a sex discrimination claim filed by a former employee. The subpoena requested "pedigree information" for employees or prospective employees who took a physical capability strength test. The Ninth Circuit held that the district court abused its discretion by denying enforcement of the subpoena because the pedigree information was relevant to the investigation. Therefore, the panel vacated the district court's judgment and remanded for further proceedings. On remand, McLane is free to renew its argument that the EEOC's request for pedigree information is unduly burdensome, and 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.
Court Description: Subpoena / EEOC. On remand from the United States Supreme Court, the panel vacated the district court’s order denying enforcement of an administrative subpoena issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to McLane Company as part of an investigation of a sex discrimination claim. The EEOC alleged that McLane discriminated the basis of sex when it fired a former employee after she failed to pass a physical capability strength test. As 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. The panel held that the district court abused its discretion by denying enforcement of the subpoena because the information was relevant to the EEOC’s investigation. The panel vacated the district court’s order denying enforcement of the subpoena and remanded for further proceedings. The panel held that on remand McLane was free to renew its argument that the EEOC’s request for pedigree information was unduly burdensome. The panel further instructed that on remand, the district court should resolve whether producing a second category of evidence—the reasons test takers were terminated—would be unduly burdensome to McLane. EEOC V. MCLANE CO. 3
This opinion or order relates to an opinion or order originally issued on October 27, 2015.
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