Court Limits The EEOC's Investigative Power By Finding That The EEOC Is Not Entitled to "Unconstrained Investigative Authority"

On November 19, 2012, in EEOC v. McLane Company, Inc., No. 12-CV-02469 (D. Ariz. Nov. 19, 2012), Judge G. Murray Snow of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona held that the EEOC’s authority to investigate charges of discrimination is not unlimited. Judge Snow denied the EEOC’s application to enforce portions of an administrative subpoena on the grounds that: (1) the EEOC did not have jurisdiction to investigate a generalized charge of discrimination that is not tied to a specific aggrieved party; and (2) some of the EEOC’s information requests were overbroad and irrelevant to the underlying charge. This ruling is a must read for any employer facing overbroad EEOC investigations and requests for information.

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