Franklin & Marshall College v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

**Franklin & Marshall College v. EEOC (1986)** This case involved a dispute between Franklin & Marshall College and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) over how workplace discrimination investigations should be conducted and what employment records employers must provide during these investigations. The college challenged the EEOC's authority to demand certain employment records and questioned the procedures the agency used when investigating discrimination complaints. The college argued that some of the EEOC's record-keeping requirements and investigation methods went beyond what federal law allowed. The Supreme Court issued a mixed ruling, upholding some aspects of the EEOC's authority while limiting others. The Court clarified which employment records employers must turn over during discrimination investigations and established clearer boundaries for how these investigations should proceed. **What this means for workers:** This decision helped define the rules that govern how discrimination complaints are investigated in the workplace. While the ruling placed some limits on the EEOC's investigative powers, it also confirmed that employers cannot simply refuse to cooperate with discrimination investigations. Workers filing discrimination complaints can expect that employers must provide certain employment records to investigators, though the scope of that requirement has specific legal boundaries.