By Gerald L. Maatman, Jr. and Alex W. Karasik
Seyfarth Synopsis: After a federal magistrate judge in California ordered the EEOC to provide written discovery responses relative to the substance its pre-suit investigation of a sex discrimination charge in EEOC v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., No. 17-CV-5382, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 129046 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 1, 2019), the EEOC objected to the order and sought review; thereafter, the district judge granted EEOC’s motion for relief from the magistrate judge’s order. The Court found that the requested evidence was protected by the deliberative process privilege, and therefore, that the EEOC did not have to respond to the discovery request.
For employers who are defending against EEOC-initiated litigation, this ruling serves as yet another roadblock in terms of seeking discovery regarding the Commission’s pre-suit investigation.
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Case Background
A former employee filed a charge against Chipotle alleging he was subjected to sexual harassment, retaliation, and discharge. Id. at *1-2. Before filing suit, the EEOC issued to Chipotle a determination finding reasonable cause to believe that it violated Title VII. In the course of discovery, the parties agreed to provide written responses to each other’s 30(b)(6) deposition notices instead of producing witnesses. The EEOC did not substantively respond to five of these topics (Topics 10-14), invoking in part the governmental deliberative process privilege in response to each. The EEOC argued that Chipotle was not entitled to the requested information because “[t]he substance of the EEOC pre-suit investigation is not judicially reviewable” and therefore not relevant, and that the information was protected by the deliberative process privilege. Id. at *2-3.
Magistrate Judge van Keulen sided with Chipotle and ordered the EEOC to respond to Topics 10–14. Specifically, the Magistrate Judge found that Chipotle sought only “the determinative facts and evidence that support the specific findings of the EEOC,” and that they did “not seek any privileged information.” Id. at *3. The Magistrate Judge surmised that in making its Determination, the EEOC likely “(1) conducted an investigation; (2) identified relevant facts; (3) evaluated those facts; and (4) reached its conclusions.” Id. The Magistrate Judge held that Topics 10–14 were targeted only at the “identified relevant facts” step and not at the EEOC investigation of or evaluation of those facts. Id. The Magistrate Judge concluded that “[t]he EEOC has not identified a privilege that protects the facts that support findings because there is none.” Id. The Magistrate Judge thus ordered the EEOC to respond to these topics. Thereafter, the EEOC filed its motion for relief from a non-dispositive pretrial order of the Magistrate Judge.
The Court’s Decision
The Court granted the EEOC’s motion for relief from a non-dispositive magistrate judge order, and held that the EEOC was not required to respond to Topics 10-14. First, the Court addressed the EEOC’s argument that the Magistrate Judge’s order was contrary to law because Chipotle requested topics seeking information that was protected by the deliberative process privilege. The Court explained that the deliberative process privilege shields from disclosure intra-governmental communications relating to matters of law or policy, and that its purpose is to protect the quality of governmental decision-making by “maintaining the confidentiality of advisory opinions, recommendations, and deliberations comprising part of a process by which governmental decisions and policies are formulated.” Id. at *4 (citations and quotations omitted). The Court thus held that the Magistrate Judge failed to apply this law by apparently failing to consider whether the sought “factual material was so interwoven with the deliberative material that it was not severable.” Id. at *5.
Turning to the Magistrate Judge’s holding that no privilege “protects the facts that support findings,” the Court held this was an incorrect statement of law. Id. Citing the relevant case law, the Court noted that the deliberative process privilege protects facts if they are “so interwoven with the deliberative material” that “the unveiling of factual materials would be tantamount to the publication of the evaluation and analysis of the multitudinous facts conducted by the agency.” Id. Because the Magistrate Judge did not consider whether revelation of the “identified relevant facts” would be tantamount to revelation of the deliberative process, the Court held that her holding was contrary to law.
Next, the Court addressed Chipotle’s request that the EEOC explicitly disclose only those facts that underpin the determinations, and implicitly to exclude those facts that were not pertinent to the decision. The Court rejected this approach, holding that by disclosing the facts on which it based its conclusions, EEOC would be required to provide Chipotle unwarranted insight into how those facts played into the EEOC’s decision-making process, and that the deliberative process privilege protects such a disclosure.
Having found the deliberative process privilege may apply, the Court then analyzed whether Chipotle nevertheless demonstrated that disclosure of the materials was warranted. Noting that the deliberative process privilege was a qualified privilege, the Court applied the Ninth Circuit’s four non-exclusive factors that courts may consider in determining whether the litigant has met this requirement: “(1) the relevance of the evidence; (2) the availability of other evidence; (3) the government’s role in the litigation; and (4) the extent to which disclosure would hinder frank and independent discussion regarding contemplated policies and decisions.” Id. (citation omitted). The Court held that disclosure was not appropriate under this multi-factor balancing test because, perhaps most importantly, the evidence sought was not relevant to this case. Further, the Court opined that relevant evidence was available to Chipotle through other avenues, including through produced documents from and investigative file, interview notes for four witnesses, and deposition testimony of the interviewees.
Accordingly, the Court held that although “this litigation is serious and the Government is a litigant in the case, these factors do not tip the balance in favor of disclosure given that the requested evidence is irrelevant with respect to the claims and that forcing EEOC to disclose its deliberative process in cases such as this might chill administrative officers from conducting a fulsome investigation in such circumstances.” Id. at *7.The Court thus granted the EEOC’s motion for relief from a non-dispositive magistrate judge order, and held that the EEOC was not required to respond to Topics 10-14.
Implications For Employers
For employer who are embroiled in EEOC-initiated litigation, the discovery process can be challenging in regards to unearthing evidence from the EEOC’s pre-suit investigation. This ruling will not make that task any easier, and the Commission will almost certainly use it in future discovery-related briefing.
Nonetheless, the Court did provide employers with some alternative avenues to discover facts about the EEOC’s pre-suit investigation, for instance, by requesting interview notes and subsequently deposing the interviewees. Employers should thus be creative when crafting discovery strategies in EEOC-initiated litigation.
Readers can also find this post on our EEOC Countdown blog here.