Opinion ID: 6546
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: EEOC Letter of Violation

Text: As to the exclusion of the EEOC letter of violation, Manville argues that this evidence was properly excluded under Fed.R.Evid. 403 because of the danger of unfair prejudice. In Gilchrist v. Jim Slemons Imports, Inc., the Ninth Circuit held that an EEOC letter of violation is excludable because it suggests that preliminarily there is reason to believe that a violation has taken place and therefore results in unfair prejudice to defendant. 803 F.2d 1488, 1500 (9th Cir.1986). In response, the EEOC notes that this circuit considers EEOC determinations of reasonable cause (as opposed to the letter of violation at issue in Gilchrist ) to be presumptively admissible because they are so highly probative of [discrimination] that [their probity] outweighs any possible prejudice to defendant.'  McClure v. Mexia Independent School District, 750 F.2d 396, 400 (5th Cir.1985) (quoting Smith v. Universal Services, Inc., 454 F.2d 154, 157 (5th Cir.1972)). The problem with the EEOC's argument is that in the instant case the lower court considered a letter of violation, similar to the letter involved in Gilchrist rather than the letters of reasonable cause which were evaluated in the McClure and Smith cases. This difference is significant because a letter of reasonable cause is more tentative in its conclusions whereas a letter of violation states the categorical legal conclusion that a violation has taken place. Additionally, we have held that the McClure and Smith decisions should not be read as leaving district courts without discretion under Rule 403 to exclude such reports if their probative value is substantially outweighed by prejudicial effect or other considerations enumerated in the rule. Cortes v. Maxus Exploration Co., 977 F.2d 195, 201-02 (5th Cir.1992). We agree with the Ninth Circuit's holding in Gilchrist that a letter of violation represents a determination by the EEOC that a violation of the Act has occurred and thus results in a much greater possibility of unfair prejudice and that [t]he probative value of a letter of violation may not, in every case, outweigh the potential for prejudice. 803 F.2d at 1500. In the de novo adjudication conducted by the trial court in discrimination cases, the task of weighing a letter of violation's probity versus its possibility for prejudice is best left to the trial judge. Because the plaintiffs have failed to show that the exclusion of the letter of violation was an abuse of discretion, we let this ruling stand.4