Opinion ID: 419685
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Revocation of the Subpoena to Employment Development Department

Text: 12 The Employment Development Department petitioned to have the subpoena of its records revoked on the basis of a statutory privilege contained in Cal.Unemp.Ins.Code Secs. 1094, 2111 (Deering 1983). 2 California has a policy of keeping the records confidential to ensure truthful reporting on the part of the employee. Canova contends that the Board's revocation of the subpoena at the instance of the Employment Development Department deprived it of evidence relevant to whether Phillips and Davis sought interim employment. 13 The Board's decisions regarding enforcement of subpoenas are discretionary. NLRB v. Adrian Belt Co., 578 F.2d 1304, 1310 (9th Cir.1978). In exercising that discretion, however, the Board must comply as far as is practicable with the rules of evidence applicable in federal courts. Thus, unless the special characteristics of an administrative hearing require otherwise, the Board may revoke a subpoena only if to do so would be proper in federal district court. General Engineering, Inc. v. NLRB, 341 F.2d 367, 374 (9th Cir.1965). Such revocation generally requires a valid evidentiary objection to the material sought under the subpoena. NLRB v. Seine & Line Fishermen's Union, 374 F.2d 974, 980 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 389 U.S. 913, 88 S.Ct. 239, 19 L.Ed.2d 261 (1967). 14 This case is governed by NLRB v. Adrian Belt Co., 578 F.2d 1304 (9th Cir.1978), wherein this court upheld the revocation of a subpoena for California unemployment and disability records. The state agency subject to the subpoena had invoked the same statutory privilege under litigation in the present case. This court held that the claimed privilege may constitute a valid reason for the Board to revoke or decline to enforce a subpoena. 578 F.2d at 1310. The Adrian Belt court also found that the subpoenaed material was of minimal probative value and that the employers were not prejudiced by their inability to obtain the records. Id. 15 The Board acted within its discretionary power in revoking the subpoena. It did so pursuant to the same statutory privilege deemed in Adrian Belt to be a proper basis for revocation. 3 Further, the Board found, as in Adrian Belt, that the material would have been of small probative value and that Canova was not significantly prejudiced by the revocation. 16 Canova sought to use the records as evidence of lack of diligence in seeking interim employment. As the Board determined, however, those records would only show what efforts the employees actually reported to the Employment Development Department and not necessarily what was actually done. This evidence would have had its most significant value in impeaching the testimony of the employees concerning their efforts in seeking employment. Canova had in its possession Board compliance documents and statements made by the employees concerning the job searches that contained evidence analogous to the Employment Development Department reports. Given Canova's opportunity to cross-examine Phillips and Davis on the basis of these materials, Canova was not prejudiced by the revocation. 17