E.E.O.C. v. Quad/Graphics, Inc.

Decision Date21 August 1995
Docket NumberNo. 94-3770,94-3770
Citation63 F.3d 642
Parties68 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 1085 EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Applicant-Appellee, v. QUAD/GRAPHICS, INCORPORATED, Respondent-Appellant.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Gwendolyn Young Reams, Sophia Constance Goodman (argued), James R. Neely, Jr., and Robert J. Gregory, E.E.O.C., Office of General Counsel, Washington, DC, for plaintiff-appellee.

Thomas W. Scrivner (argued) and Eric H. Rumbaugh, Michael, Best & Friedrich, Milwaukee, WI, for defendant-appellant.

Before CUMMINGS and RIPPLE, Circuit Judges, and WILL, District Judge. *

RIPPLE, Circuit Judge.

This is an appeal by Quad/Graphics, Inc. from an order of the district court enforcing an administrative subpoena of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The district court rejected Quad/Graphics' claims that the subpoena was based on an invalid charge, was issued in bad faith, and was unduly burdensome. For the reasons set forth in the following opinion, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

I BACKGROUND

On November 5, 1993, Commissioner R. Gaull Silberman issued an EEOC Commissioner charge, dated November 1, against Quad/Graphics. A Commissioner charge is a discrimination claim issued by an EEOC Commissioner alone; there is no private charging party. Commissioner Silberman stated under oath that, "based on interviews, testimonial evidence and other information," she believed Quad/Graphics had engaged in discriminatory practices in violation of Title VII and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. R.1, Ex.A. The charge alleged that Quad/Graphics had violated the statutes by:

Failing to recruit and/or hire Asians, Hispanics, and individuals over the age of 40 because of their race, national origin and/or age.

Id. The charge further alleged that these discriminatory acts had occurred during a period beginning on January 1, 1991. As a result of the charge, the EEOC submitted to Quad/Graphics a document containing ten specifically enumerated requests for employment data. After a series of meetings, Quad/Graphics refused to comply with the requests. The Commission then subpoenaed the information. Although the subpoena initially was not so limited, the EEOC later agreed to limit its scope to four plants in southeastern Wisconsin. Quad/Graphics refused to comply with the subpoena. The EEOC then sought to enforce the subpoena in the district court.

The district court enforced the subpoena. See 868 F.Supp. 1078 (E.D.Wis.1994). It rejected Quad/Graphics' argument that the Commission's charge was required to specify the job classifications under investigation. The court noted that, in EEOC v. Shell Oil Co., 466 U.S. 54, 73, 104 S.Ct. 1621, 1633, 80 L.Ed.2d 41 (1984), the Supreme Court stated that the EEOC should supply such information "[i]nsofar as [it] is able." The court reasoned that, under Shell Oil Co., "[i]dentification of the job classifications at issue may be preferable, but it is not mandatory." 868 F.Supp. at 1082. In the district court's view, the charge adequately described the alleged violations. Next, the district court rejected Quad/Graphics' claim that the EEOC undertook its investigation in bad faith. It found the EEOC's request for data reasonable and determined that there was no evidence that the EEOC initiated the investigation to retaliate against Quad/Graphics for failing to cooperate with a Department of Labor audit. Finally, the court rejected Quad/Graphics' claim that it would be unduly burdensome to comply with the subpoena. The court discounted Quad/Graphics' estimate that the company would require over 200,000 hours to comply with the subpoena on the ground that the estimate was based upon inefficient data collection methods. The district court termed the estimate "a gross exaggeration," id. at 1084, produced by "determining the most inefficient way in which to collect the requested data." Id. Subsequently, the district court stayed its order pending this appeal. 875 F.Supp. 558 (E.D.Wis.1995). The court believed the stay was justified because otherwise the case would become moot pending appeal. Id. at 560.

II DISCUSSION

We turn first to the general principles that govern the enforcement of administrative subpoenas. As a general proposition, courts enforce an administrative subpoena if it seeks reasonably relevant information, is not too indefinite, and relates to an investigation within the agency's authority. EEOC v. Tempel Steel Co., 814 F.2d 482, 484 (7th Cir.1987); EEOC v. Illinois State Tollway Auth., 800 F.2d 656, 658 (7th Cir.1986); EEOC v. A.E. Staley Mfg. Co., 711 F.2d 780, 783 (7th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 466 U.S. 936, 104 S.Ct. 1907, 80 L.Ed.2d 456 (1984); see University of Pa. v. EEOC, 493 U.S. 182, 191, 110 S.Ct. 577, 583, 107 L.Ed.2d 571 (1990). The court must, however, be satisfied that the demand for information is not " 'too indefinite' " and that it has not " 'been made for an illegitimate purpose.' " University of Pa., 493 U.S. at 191, 110 S.Ct. at 583 (quoting EEOC v. Shell Oil Co., 466 U.S. 54, 72 n. 26, 104 S.Ct. 1621, 1632 n. 26, 80 L.Ed.2d 41 (1984)). A subpoena will not be enforced if the demand is "excessively burdensome," EEOC v. Illinois Dep't of Employment Sec., 995 F.2d 106, 109 (7th Cir.1993), that is, if "compliance would threaten the normal operation of a respondent's business." EEOC v. Bay Shipbuilding Corp., 668 F.2d 304, 313 (7th Cir.1981).

As we noted in Dow Chemical Co. v. Allen, 672 F.2d 1262 (7th Cir.1982), a district court's decision to enforce an agency subpoena generally is reviewed deferentially:

A finding by the district court that documents are reasonably relevant to a legitimate agency purpose cannot be overturned absent a showing that the factual determinations on which it is based are clearly erroneous or that the ruling itself constitutes an abuse of discretion. Similarly, court assessments of whether disclosure would be burdensome and of what restrictions might be appropriate are decisions within the sound discretion of the trial court and should only be reversed for abuse of discretion save where they are intimately tied to a misunderstanding of law, in which case the ordinary standard of error applies.

Id. at 1267 (internal citations omitted). 1 We must now apply these general principles to the EEOC subpoena before us.

A. The Relationship Between the Charge and the Subpoena
1.

Under Title VII, the EEOC has the right to examine and copy "any evidence ... relevant to the charge under investigation," 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e-8(a) (emphasis added), and may petition the district courts to enforce the subpoenas it issues pursuant to this authority. 2 Thus, the statute makes clear that an EEOC subpoena will not relate to an investigation within the agency's authority unless it seeks information relevant to the charge under investigation. "[U]nlike other federal agencies that possess plenary authority to demand to see records relevant to matters within their jurisdiction, the EEOC is entitled to access only to evidence relevant to the charge under investigation." EEOC v. Shell Oil Co., 466 U.S. 54, 64, 104 S.Ct. 1621, 1628-29, 80 L.Ed.2d 41 (1984) (internal footnote, quotation and citation omitted). Accordingly, an EEOC subpoena will not be valid unless the underlying charge supporting the subpoena is itself a valid charge. Id. at 65, 104 S.Ct. at 1629 ("[T]he existence of a charge that meets the requirements set forth in Sec. 706(b) ... is a jurisdictional prerequisite to judicial enforcement of a subpoena issued by the EEOC."); see University of Pa., 493 U.S. at 191, 110 S.Ct. at 583; see also 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e-6(e) (requiring EEOC to ensure that its investigations comply with 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e-5, which sets forth minimal requirements for valid charges).

Section 706 of Title VII provides that discrimination charges "shall be in writing under oath or affirmation and shall contain such information and be in such form as the Commission requires." Id. Sec. 2000e-5(b). Pursuant to the authority delegated to it in section 706, the Commission has promulgated a regulation which states, in relevant part, that each charge of discrimination should contain "[a] clear and concise statement of the facts, including pertinent dates, constituting the alleged unlawful employment practices." 29 C.F.R. Sec. 1601.12(a)(3). In Shell Oil Co., the Supreme Court considered in detail what section 1601.12(a)(3) required of Commissioners who file charges of discrimination under Title VII. The Court said:

Insofar as he is able, the Commissioner should identify the groups of persons that he has reason to believe have been discriminated against, the categories of employment positions from which they have been excluded, the methods by which the discrimination may have been effected, and the periods of time in which he suspects the discrimination to have been practiced.

466 U.S. at 73, 104 S.Ct. at 1633.

Quad/Graphics contends that Commissioner Silberman's charge does not satisfy Title VII's minimal requirements and, therefore, that the subpoena issued pursuant to that charge is invalid. Specifically, Quad/Graphics' argument is that the Commissioner's charge contains only conclusory allegations of discrimination and does not state "the categories of employment positions" from which the affected individuals allegedly have been excluded. In response, the EEOC argues that the level of specificity in the charge at issue in this case is the same as that in the charge that passed muster before the Supreme Court in Shell Oil Co. It stresses that the methods of discrimination and the time in which the alleged discrimination took place are set forth explicitly. With respect to the absence of employment categories, the EEOC does not dispute that Commissioner Silberman's charge fails to provide explicitly this information. It contends, however, that Shell Oil Co. does not mandate that...

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