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Union Pacific Railroad Company v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, No. 15-3452 · judgment August 15, 2017

Certiorari denied · June 25, 2018
Pre-decision estimate: 2% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Questions presented

Title VII authorizes the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to investigate charges of discrimination, and to issue subpoenas to employers for information relevant to the charge under investigation. This case presents two important questions on which the circuits are divided:

  1. Whether the Seventh Circuit erred by holding, in conflict with decisions of the Fifth Circuit, that the EEOC may enforce a subpoena after the charging employee has initiated litigation, and even after the charging employee’s claim has been adjudicated meritless in court.

  2. Whether the Seventh Circuit erred by holding, in conflict with decisions of the Tenth and Eleventh Circuits, that a charge alleging only individual discrimination permits the EEOC to subpoena nationwide information about suspected discrimination against other employees in other employment practices.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
J. Scott Ballenger

For respondent
Noel John Francisco
Jones Day

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Amicus briefs
1 cert-stage

Proceedings

  1. Jun 25 2018
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Jun 05 2018
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/21/2018.
  3. Jun 05 2018
    Reply of petitioner Union Pacific Railroad Company filed. (Distributed)
  4. May 18 2018
    Brief of respondent Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in opposition filed.
  5. Apr 18 2018
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is further extended to and including May 21, 2018.
  6. Apr 17 2018
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from April 25, 2018 to May 21, 2018, submitted to The Clerk.
  7. Mar 26 2018
    Brief amici curiae of Center for Workplace Compliance, et al. filed.
  8. Mar 23 2018
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including April 25, 2018.
  9. Mar 22 2018
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from March 26, 2018 to April 25, 2018, submitted to The Clerk.
  10. Feb 16 2018
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due March 26, 2018)