It is rarely a good idea to ignore an agency request or summons, to thumb your nose at agency authority, or to simply tell them to go pound sand. There have been a variety of issues in agencies where failure to cooperate and/or provide a reasonable and clear-cut reason for that failure leads to increased enforcement actions, fines and other problems. This is true for the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) if there is a HIPAA question, certainly true for OSHA, and, as illustrated last month, is now clearly true for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
The EEOC recently released a press release indicating that it is filing its first subpoena enforcement action under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. (Unsurprisingly, this comes out of the EEOC Chicago office, as Chicago is frequently a leader in enforcement and regulation matters.) The EEOC has stated that it “filed a subpoena enforcement action against R&L Carrier Shared Services, LLC” as the company ignored the original administrative request. The EEOC is investigating a charge of discrimination based on sex and pregnancy status. The EEOC stated that the subpoena requested, among other things, a list of employees with contact information, presumably to look for similarly situated employees or comparatives and to determine additional witnesses in any investigative claim.
This subpoena enforcement action is another indication of the EEOC’s intent to diligently utilize the new regulations relating to the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act investigations and prosecute violations. As the EEOC’s Chicago District Regional Attorney Gregory Gochanour stated in the press release, “If an employer fails to comply with a subpoena issued during an investigation and withholds relevant information, the EEOC will seek court enforcement so that investigations can be completed and a determination made without unnecessary delay.”
In light of this, employers should carefully assess any information requested and comply with legally supported requests to avoid additional litigation and headaches.
