E.E.O.C. v. Cambridge Tile Mfg. Co., 77-3116
| Decision Date | 09 January 1979 |
| Docket Number | No. 77-3116,77-3116 |
| Citation | 590 F.2d 205 |
| Parties | 18 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 1378, 18 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 8817 EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. CAMBRIDGE TILE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
Roger A. Weber, Taft, Stettinius & Hollister, Cincinnati, Ohio, for defendant-appellant.
General Counsel, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Washington, D. C., William H. Ng, E. E. O. C., Washington, D. C., for plaintiff-appellee.
Before PHILLIPS, Chief Judge, LIVELY, Circuit Judge, and PECK, Senior Circuit Judge.
This case involves the scope of the investigatory and subpoena power of the EEOC. The defendant Cambridge Tile Company is appealing an order granting enforcement of an investigatory subpoena issued by the EEOC in June 1974.
In June, 1973, a Cambridge Tile employee filed a charge with the EEOC, alleging that she was the victim of sex discrimination in that she had been fired for refusing the advances of her male foreman. A few months later a second employee, Orice Pullen, filed a charge alleging race discrimination in her discharge. In the course of its investigations, the EEOC uncovered evidence of possible sex discrimination in job classifications, and issued the subpoena here in issue seeking further statistical information relating to that discovery. The company refused, asserting that the EEOC was without power to issue the subpoena. After protracted legal proceedings, the District Court ordered enforcement of the subpoena, and the Company perfected this appeal.
The EEOC's statutory authority to examine documents of a party under investigation is contained in 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-8(a):
In connection with any investigation of a charge filed under section 2000e-5 of this title, the Commission or its designated representative shall at all reasonable times have access to, for the purposes of examination, and the right to copy any evidence of any person being investigated or proceeded against that relates to unlawful employment practices covered by this subchapter and is relevant to the charge under investigation.
The defendant asserts that the EEOC's subpoena power is sharply limited by the last clause of this provision, and that it has no power to subpoena any information that is not directly related to a charge which has been filed. Since the only two charges against the Company involve race and sex discrimination in firing, it contends that issues of sex...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
E.E.O.C. v. Bay Shipbuilding Corp.
...the EEOC to investigate "any employer practice which may shed light on the discrimination charged." EEOC v. Cambridge Tile Manufacturing Co., 590 F.2d 205, 206 (6th Cir. 1979); Motorola v. McLain, 484 F.2d 1339, 1345 (7th Cir. 1973), certiorari denied, 416 U.S. 936, 94 S.Ct. 1935, 40 L.Ed.2......
-
E.E.O.C. v. K-Mart Corp., K-MART
...v. McLain, 484 F.2d 1339 (7th Cir.1973), cert. denied, 416 U.S. 936, 94 S.Ct. 1935, 40 L.Ed.2d 287 (1974); EEOC v. Cambridge Tile Manufacturing Co., 590 F.2d 205, 206 (6th Cir.1979). The EEOC has the initial responsibility to determine the coverage of Title VII. EEOC v. Quick Shop Markets, ......
-
Shell Oil Co. v. United States EEOC, 80-1202-C(5)
...documents concerning any employer practice which may shed light on the discrimination charged. Equal Employment Opportunity v. Cambridge Tile Mfg., 590 F.2d 205, 206 (6th Cir. 1979). The Court after reviewing the subpoena finds that the information requested therein is not wholly unrelated ......
-
Equal Employment Opportunity Comm'n v. Kronos Inc..
...in the course of a reasonable investigation of the charging party's complaint are actionable.”); EEOC v. Cambridge Tile Mfg. Co., 590 F.2d 205, 206 (6th Cir.1979) (per curiam) (enforcing EEOC subpoena seeking information related to sex discrimination in job classification after EEOC uncover......