Opinion ID: 2975578
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: EEOC Determination

Text: The City next asserts that the district court erred by permitting Blakely to introduce the EEOC determination. A trial court has the discretion to allow an EEOC determination into evidence, even though these determinations are not per se admissible in all civil rights suits. Heard v. Mueller Co., 464 F.2d 190, 194 (6th Cir. 1972). In this case, the district court did not abuse its discretion by permitting this evidence. While “[a] strong argument can be made that a jury would attach undue influence to this type of agency determination, viewing it as a finding of discrimination . . . rather than as a mere finding of probable cause,” Williams v. Nashville Network, 132 F.3d 1123, 1129 (6th -3- No. 06-5372 Blakely v. City of Clarksville Cir. 1997), the district court minimized any potential undue influence by specifically instructing the jury that it was free to disregard any conclusions contained in the report because the EEOC may not have had the same evidence as the jury had.