Court Opinion

ID: 9954678
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-03-26 19:00:48.759825+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:12:11.565919
License: Public Domain

RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION
                                 Pursuant to Sixth Circuit I.O.P. 32.1(b)
                                        File Name: 24a0064p.06

                     UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                                   FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT

                                                              ┐
 EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION,
                                                              │
                            Applicant-Appellee,               │
                                                               >        No. 23-1719
                                                              │
        v.                                                    │
                                                              │
 FERRELLGAS, L.P.,                                            │
                                Respondent-Appellant.         │
                                                              ┘

  Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan at Detroit.
                 No. 2:23-mc-50094—Stephen J. Murphy III, District Judge.

                               Decided and Filed: March 26, 2024

                  Before: BOGGS, MOORE, and GIBBONS, Circuit Judges.

                                       _________________

                                             COUNSEL

ON BRIEF: Brent N. Coverdale, SCHARNHORST AST KENNARD GRIFFIN, PC, Kansas
City, Missouri, John T. Below, BODMAN PLC, Troy, Michigan, for Appellant. Steven
Winkelman, EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Washington, D.C., for
Appellee.
                                       _________________

                                              OPINION
                                       _________________

       JULIA SMITH GIBBONS, Circuit Judge. Ferrellgas, L.P., appeals the district court’s
order enforcing an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission subpoena. Because the district
court did not abuse its discretion in enforcing the subpoena, we affirm.
 No. 23-1719                              EEOC v. Ferrellgas, L.P.                                    Page 3

three Ferrellgas entities employed them.2 In response to the second RFI, Ferrellgas’s outside
counsel requested that “all further communications regarding this matter . . . be directed to [his]
firm.” DE 7–10, Ferrellgas Response to RFI No. 2, Page ID 126.

        The EEOC’s investigation continued over the next twenty-one months. In December
2021, the EEOC served Ferrellgas with a subpoena by mailing it to Ferrellgas’s outside counsel.
Ferrellgas responded, leveling several objections to the subpoena’s breadth and burdensomeness
but at the same time providing some responsive information. Ferrellgas did not object to the
EEOC’s manner of service.

        A few months later, the EEOC sent Ferrellgas a third RFI, transmitting the request to the
same human resources employee who had responded to its initial RFI. This time, Ferrellgas
refused to provide any of the requested documentation. And in its response, Ferrellgas again
requested that all communications from the EEOC be directed to its outside counsel.

        In October 2022, the EEOC served Ferrellgas with a second subpoena — addressed to
“Ferrellgas, Inc.” — by mailing the subpoena to Ferrellgas’s outside counsel and uploading the
subpoena to the EEOC’s online portal.3 Two weeks later, Ferrellgas responded through outside
counsel, refusing to provide any of the requested information on grounds of overbreadth and
undue burden. Ferrellgas’s outside counsel also observed that the subpoena was unsigned and
indicated that Ferrellgas was “not aware of any . . . certified mailing.”                DE 2-4, Ferrellgas
Response to Oct. 2022 Subpoena, Page ID 33.

        The following month, the EEOC re-issued its October subpoena. A near replica of the
original subpoena, the Commission’s November subpoena differed only in that it was dated
November 2, 2022, and signed by Deanna Wooten, the Enforcement Manager for the EEOC’s
Detroit office, on behalf of the EEOC’s Detroit District Director. The response date specified in
the November subpoena remained October 25, 2022, and the EEOC again served the subpoena

        2
           In separate email communications with an EEOC investigator, the Ferrellgas employee’s email signature
reflected that Ferrellgas, L.P., employed her as a Senior Human Resource Generalist.
        3
        Both Ferrellgas and its outside counsel had previously used the EEOC’s online portal to transmit
documents to the EEOC.
 No. 23-1719                                EEOC v. Ferrellgas, L.P.                                       Page 4

by uploading it to the EEOC’s online portal and sending a copy by certified mail to Ferrellgas’s
outside counsel.4

       Consistent with its response to the October subpoena, Ferrellgas refused to provide any
responsive documents.           Without formally petitioning the Commission for the subpoena’s
revocation or modification, Ferrellgas’s outside counsel referred the EEOC to Ferrellgas’s earlier
response, indicating that the company still “object[ed] to the [Subpoena’s] current scope.” DE 2-
3, Coverdale Email to EEOC, Page ID 31.

       In January 2023, the EEOC applied for an order to show cause why the November 2022
subpoena should not be enforced under Section 710 of Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-9. The
district court granted the application and directed Ferrellgas to respond. Ferrellgas responded,
and roughly four-and-a-half months later, the district court ordered that the subpoena be
enforced. Ferrellgas timely appealed.

                                                         II.

       We review the district court's decision to enforce the EEOC’s subpoena for abuse of
discretion. McLane Co., Inc. v. EEOC, 581 U.S. 72, 85 (2017); EEOC v. Roadway Express, Inc.
(Roadway Express II), 261 F.3d 634, 638 (6th Cir. 2001). Under this highly deferential standard,
we disturb the district court’s judgment only if it “relie[d] on clearly erroneous findings of fact,
applie[d] the wrong legal standard, misapplie[d] the correct legal standard when reaching a
conclusion, or ma[de] a clear error of judgment.” Cole v. City of Memphis, 839 F.3d 530, 540
(6th Cir. 2016) (citation omitted). To warrant reversal, the district court’s mistake must “affect[]
substantial rights and amount[] to more than harmless error,” Himes v. United States, 645 F.3d
771, 782 (6th Cir. 2011) (quoting Dortch v. Fowler, 588 F.3d 396, 400 (6th Cir. 2009)).

       4
           The certified-mail return receipt indicates that counsel received the subpoena on December 7, 2022.
 No. 23-1719                          EEOC v. Ferrellgas, L.P.                               Page 5

                                                 III.

                                                 A.

       Title VII bars employers from discharging or refusing to hire employees on the basis of
“race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.” 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a). When an individual files
a sworn charge of employment discrimination with the EEOC, the Act “obligates the
Commission to investigate [the charge] to determine whether there is ‘reasonable cause to
believe that the charge is true.’” Univ. of Pa. v. EEOC, 493 U.S. 182, 190 (1990) (quoting 42
U.S.C. § 2000e-5(b)).      In furtherance of this investigatory mandate, Title VII arms the
Commission with “a broad right of access to relevant evidence,” id. at 191, instructing that “the
Commission . . . shall . . . have access to . . . any evidence of any person being investigated or
proceeded against that relates to unlawful employment practices covered by” Title VII and “is
relevant to the charge under investigation,” 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-8(a).

       The EEOC’s right of informational access includes the authority to issue subpoenas duces
tecum seeking relevant documents and information. 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-9 (incorporating 29
U.S.C. § 161). An employer may petition the EEOC to revoke such a subpoena, “but if the
EEOC rejects the petition and the employer still refuses to obey . . . , the EEOC may ask a
district court to issue an order enforcing it.” McLane, 581 U.S. at 76 (cleaned up) (quoting
29 U.S.C. § 161(2)).

       “A subpoena enforcement proceeding is a summary process designed to decide
expeditiously whether a subpoena should be enforced.” EEOC v. United Parcel Serv., Inc., 859
F.3d 375, 378 (6th Cir. 2017) (quoting EEOC v. Roadway Express, Inc. (Roadway Express I),
750 F.2d 40, 42 (6th Cir. 1984)). The reviewing court’s limited role is not “to determine
‘whether the charge of discrimination is ‘well founded’ or ‘verifiable,’’” but instead to “satisfy
itself that the charge is valid and that the material requested is ‘relevant’ to the charge.” Univ. of
Pa., 493 U.S. at 191 (quoting EEOC v. Shell Oil, 466 U.S. 54, 72 n.26 (1984)). If so, the court
“should enforce the subpoena unless the employer establishes that the subpoena is ‘too
indefinite,’ has been issued for an ‘illegitimate purpose,’ or is unduly burdensome.” McLane,
581 US. at 77 (quoting Shell Oil, 466 U.S. at 72 n.26); see also EEOC v. Ford Motor Credit Co.,
 No. 23-1719                          EEOC v. Ferrellgas, L.P.                           Page 6

26 F.3d 44, 45 (6th Cir. 1994) (“An EEOC administrative subpoena may be judicially enforced
only if it: (1) seeks relevant information; (2) is not unduly burdensome; and (3) is within the
statutory authority of the EEOC.”).

                                                 B.

       The district court found that Wells’s charge is facially valid, and Ferrellgas does not
dispute that finding. Instead, Ferrellgas challenges the Commission’s subpoena on four other
grounds — two procedural and two substantive. None of its objections prove meritorious.

                                                 1.

       Ferrellgas first contends that the subpoena is unenforceable because it was improperly
served. Title VII authorizes the Commission to serve subpoenas in the same manner as the
National Labor Relations Board serves process under the National Labor Relations Act.
42 U.S.C. § 2000e-9 (incorporating 29 U.S.C. § 161). That statute provides:

       Complaints, orders, and other process and papers of the Board, its member, agent,
       or agency, may be served either personally or by registered or certified mail or by
       telegraph or by leaving a copy thereof at the principal office or place of business
       of the person required to be served.

29. U.S.C. § 161(4). Ferrellgas argues that, under § 161(4), the EEOC cannot serve a subpoena
by posting it to the Commission’s online portal or by mailing it to counsel. Instead, Ferrellgas
argues, the Commission was required to either mail the subpoena to Ferrellgas itself or employ
one of the other methods set forth in the Act.

       We reject this argument for several reasons.       At the outset, we view Ferrellgas’s
contention skeptically. Ferrellgas earlier complied with a subpoena served in the same manner it
now contests.    And despite objecting to that subpoena’s substance, Ferrellgas previously
expressed no objection to the process it received.

       Relatedly, we hesitate to treat the Commission’s subpoenas as “an invitation to a game of
hare and hounds,” in which the subject must comply "only if cornered at the end of the chase.”
NLRB v. Strickland, 321 F.2d 811, 813 (6th Cir. 1963). “[W]ould-be process servers are not
entirely at the mercy of elusive defendants,” and here, where Ferrellgas twice instructed the
 No. 23-1719                                EEOC v. Ferrellgas, L.P.                                       Page 7

Commission to direct future communications to its outside counsel, it cannot now defeat service
of process by claiming that the Commission erred in following its explicit request. NLRB v.
Clark, 468 F.2d 459, 464 (5th Cir. 1972) (service at respondent’s former business address proper
under § 161(4) where “to all possible outward appearances” and by the respondent’s “own
doing” the former address was “still [respondent]’s ‘principal place of business’” (quoting
§ 161(4))). To hold otherwise would reward duplicity and allow potential defendants to easily
avoid the Commission’s subpoenas. What is more, it would “create a rule that would allow a
lawyer with actual notice of a subpoena to take no action, in hope that the [Commission] will not
seek enforcement, and to make objections only if enforcement proceedings ensue.” NLRB v.
Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Mkt., Inc., 805 F.3d 1155, 1162 (9th Cir. 2015). Either result
would defeat “[t]he evident Congressional purpose in enacting [29 U.S.C. § 161(4)]” — that is,
“to enable the NLRB to serve complaints and other papers by registered mail.” Clark, 468 F.2d
at 464.

          Finally, we reject Ferrellgas’s interpretation of § 161(4) on its face. The statute is silent
as to whether service by registered or certified mail requires delivery to the respondent himself,
and this court has previously endorsed the view that an NLRB subpoena served by registered
mail need not be delivered directly to the subpoenaed individual to satisfy § 161(4). NLRB v.
Strickland, 220 F. Supp. 661, 666 (W.D. Tenn. 1962) (finding § 161(4) satisfied where NLRB
mailed subpoena to respondent’s office and respondent did not sign for the mailing), aff'd, 321
F.2d 811, 813 (6th Cir. 1963). We have elsewhere endorsed the principle that when “[a]ctual
notice reached counsel promptly and counsel responded on the merits,” service not in strict
conformity with the NLRB’s regulations does not preclude a district court’s enforcement of a
Board subpoena. NLRB v. Cincinnati Bronze, Inc., 811 F.2d 607, 607 (6th Cir. 1986) (per
curiam) (table disposition); see also NLRB v. Playskool, Inc., 431 F.2d 518, 520 (7th Cir. 1970)
(per curiam) (enforcing subpoenas duces tecum despite flawed service because “[n]o prejudice
ha[d] been shown to have resulted”). We see no reason why similar principles should not apply
to the EEOC’s subpoenas.5 Cf. EEOC v. C & P Tel. Co., 813 F. Supp. 874, 875 n.1 (D.D.C.

          5
          We find Ferrellgas’s reliance on Fed. R. Civ. P. 45 and cases that cite to that Rule unpersuasive. Whether
Rule 45 requires personal service of subpoenas is of little moment in this case, because the advisory committee notes
to Rule 45 state that the Rule “does not apply to the enforcement of subpoenas issued by administrative officers and
 No. 23-1719                                EEOC v. Ferrellgas, L.P.                                         Page 8

1993) (“Because respondents knew of the subpoena, the EEOC's manner of service, even if
technically defective, constitutes substantial compliance.”).                        Ferrellgas instructed the
Commission to send communications to its attorney, and its attorney received actual notice of the
Commission’s mailed subpoena; these facts suffice to demonstrate adequate service of process
under § 161(4). Cf. Strickland, 321 F.2d at 813.6

                                                          2.

         Ferrellgas next challenges the Commission’s subpoena as facially invalid, arguing that it
failed to comply with the Commission’s procedural rules. We reject this argument on similar
grounds.

         The Commission’s regulations provide that a subpoena

         shall state the name and address of its issuer, identify the person or evidence
         subpoenaed, the person to whom and the place, date, and the time at which it is
         returnable or the nature of the evidence to be examined or copied, and the date
         and time when access is requested.

29 C.F.R. § 1601.16(a). Here, Ferrellgas correctly observes that the EEOC’s subpoena (1) lists a
response deadline that predates the subpoena’s issuance and (2) names “Ferrellgas, Inc.,” as the
subpoenaed party rather than Ferrellgas Partners, L.P., (whom Wells charges discriminated
against her) or Ferrellgas, L.P., (the respondent identified in the EEOC’s application to enforce
its subpoena). So, at a surface level, the Commission issued a subpoena with an invalid response
date and now seeks court enforcement of that subpoena against an entity that was not, strictly
speaking, the target of the subpoena itself. These technical oversights are blameworthy, and the
Commission should have rectified them well before this juncture. Cf. EEOC v. Kimberly-Clark

commissions pursuant to statutory authority.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 45 advisory committee note (1937); see also
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. v. NLRB, 122 F.2d 450, 451 (6th Cir. 1941) (citing advisory committee notes); EEOC
v. Maryland Cup Corp., 785 F.2d 471, 477 (4th Cir. 1986) (same). But see United States v. Tenn. Walking Horse
Breeders' & Exhibitors' Ass'n, 727 F. App'x 119, 124 (6th Cir. 2018) (“[A]lthough Rule 45 does not apply directly to
administrative subpoenas, Rule 81 makes clear that district courts have discretion to apply the federal rules generally
to proceedings to enforce administrative subpoenas.”).
         6
          To the extent the district court may have failed to address the EEOC’s manner of service, we find any
such error harmless. See Himes, 645 F.3d at 782.
 No. 23-1719                         EEOC v. Ferrellgas, L.P.                              Page 9

Corp., 511 F.2d 1352, 1360 (6th Cir. 1975) (“The EEOC should, of course, follow its own
procedures[.]”).

       But “it would exalt form over substance” to force the Commission to issue a new
subpoena, entertain Ferrellgas’s substantive objections, and then apply for enforcement of the
new subpoena in the district court, “all to bring us back to where we are now.” United States v.
Ritchie, 15 F.3d 592, 600 (6th Cir. 1994) (nonprejudicial errors in administrative procedures
mandated by Internal Revenue Code 7609(f) concerning IRS’s “John Doe” summonses not fatal
to the summons), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 868 (1994). Ferrellgas made no effort to clarify or seek
correction of the subpoena’s stale response deadline, and Ferrellgas’s subsequent conduct
demonstrates that it intended to defy the subpoena even if the response date had been valid.
Moreover, the Commission has not yet determined whether it possesses reasonable cause to
believe Wells’s allegations and, if so, which Ferrellgas entity would prove a suitable defendant in
a civil enforcement action. Indeed, identifying the charging individual’s de facto employer is
one (implied) purpose of the Commission’s investigation. See Swallows v. Barnes & Noble Book
Stores, Inc., 128 F.3d 990, 992–93 (6th Cir. 1997) (discussing alternative theories under which
an entity may qualify as an individual’s employer). We thus cannot wholly condemn the
Commission’s procedural lapses.

       More to the point, however, the EEOC’s errors did not prevent Ferrellgas from raising its
substantive objections to the subpoena before the Commission, the district court, or this panel.
Kicking our inevitable consideration of those substantive objections several months down the
road would contravene the summary nature of these proceedings and exact a needless tax on
already limited judicial resources. See Kobetic v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec., 114 F. App'x 171, 173
(6th Cir. 2004) (“When ‘remand would be an idle and useless formality,’ courts are not required
to ‘convert judicial review of agency action into a ping-pong game.’” (quoting NLRB v. Wyman-
Gordon Co., 394 U.S. 759, 766 n.6 (1969))). We find these considerations especially persuasive
here, when the Commission’s procedural errors did nothing to prejudice Ferrellgas’s case on the
merits. See Smalley v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec., No. 20-1865, 2021 WL 4026783, at *4 (6th Cir.
Sept. 3, 2021) (per curiam) (“[A]n agency's violation of its procedural rules will not result in
reversible error absent a showing that the claimant has been prejudiced on the merits or deprived
 No. 23-1719                         EEOC v. Ferrellgas, L.P.                           Page 10

of substantial rights because of the agency's procedural lapses.” (quoting Connor v. U.S. Civ.
Serv. Comm'n, 721 F.2d 1054, 1056 (6th Cir. 1983))). Because Ferrellgas suffered no prejudice,
the EEOC’s noncompliance with 29 C.F.R. § 1601.16 constituted harmless error, and it did not
preclude the district court from enforcing the subpoena.

                                                 3.

       Before we reach Ferrellgas’s substantive objections, we briefly address the EEOC’s
contention that Ferrellgas forfeited its right to challenge the subpoena’s enforcement altogether.
Section 11(1) of the National Labor Relations Act, from which the Commission’s subpoena
power derives, provides that:

       Within five days after the service of a subpena [sic] on any person requiring the
       production of any evidence in his possession or under his control, such person
       may petition the Board to revoke, and the Board shall revoke, such subpena [sic]
       if in its opinion the evidence whose production is required does not relate to any
       matter under investigation, or any matter in question in such proceedings, or if in
       its opinion such subpena [sic] does not describe with sufficient particularity the
       evidence whose production is required.

29 U.S.C. § 161(1) (emphasis added). The Fifth Circuit has interpreted § 161(1) to impose an
administrative-exhaustion requirement on employers who seek to avoid enforcement of an
EEOC subpoena, see EEOC v. Cuzzens of Georgia, Inc., 608 F.2d 1062, 1064 (5th Cir. 1979)
(per curiam), and the Seventh Circuit — in an unreported case — has interpreted the EEOC’s
implementing regulations to do the same, see EEOC v. Aerotek, Inc., 498 F. App'x 645, 647–48
(7th Cir. 2013). But see EEOC v. Lutheran Soc. Servs., 186 F.3d 959, 962–67 (D.C. Cir. 1999)
(addressing an employer’s substantive objections to an EEOC subpoena despite the employer’s
failure to petition the Commission for revocation or modification). Citing these cases, the
Commission asserts that by neglecting to formally petition the EEOC for the subpoena’s
revocation or modification, Ferrellgas failed to exhaust its available administrative remedies and
thus forfeited its right to challenge the subpoena’s enforcement in court.

       This argument is not without merit. We have previously held that an employer could
contest an NLRB subpoena in federal court, despite failing to petition the Board for its
revocation under § 161(1), only because the employer challenged the subpoena on constitutional
 No. 23-1719                           EEOC v. Ferrellgas, L.P.                          Page 11

grounds. See NLRB v. Midland Daily News, 151 F.3d 472, 474 (6th Cir. 1998). And Ferrellgas
asserts no constitutional challenge here.

       But Midland, Aerotek, and Cuzzens also appear distinguishable — none of those cases
addressed exhaustion of administrative remedies in light of an employer’s allegation that the
EEOC (or the NLRB) failed to properly serve a facially valid subpoena. It is self-evident,
Ferrellgas argues, that an employer’s obligation to exhaust its administrative remedies under
§ 161(1) and 29 C.F.R. § 1601.16(b)(1), if it exists at all, is contingent upon proper service of a
subpoena that complies with the statute and its implementing regulations. This argument carries
considerable logical force, and we find support for it in our caselaw. See Vokas Provision Co. v.
NLRB, 796 F.2d 864, 874 (6th Cir. 1986) (“[A] person is under a duty to obey a subpoena only
when that person has been validly served.”); Strickland, 321 F.2d at 814 (“[T]he obligation of a
witness to testify in response to a subp[o]ena is conditional upon being ‘properly summoned.’”
(quoting United States v. Bryan, 339 U.S. 323, 331 (1950))). But see Fresh & Easy, 805 F.3d at
1162–64 (applying administrative-exhaustion requirement to EEOC subpoena despite technically
flawed service). So while the Commission points to compelling precedent from outside our
circuit, we are not bound to adopt an administrative-exhaustion requirement under the present
circumstances.    See Lutheran Soc. Servs., 186 F.3d at 963 (“[C]ourts may exercise their
traditional authority to hear issues not presented to the agency if the circumstances surrounding
noncompliance with agency procedures are sufficiently compelling.”). We therefore turn to
Ferrellgas’s substantive objections.

                                                 4.

       Ferrellgas substantively objects to the Commission’s subpoena as overbroad and unduly
burdensome.      The subpoena is overbroad, Ferrellgas argues, because while Wells’s charge
implicates the company’s pay and termination practices, the subpoena seeks information
concerning Ferrellgas’s hiring practices — a wholly different topic. The subpoena is unduly
burdensome, Ferrellgas claims, because the “file retrieval costs, copying costs, and employee
time spent complying with the EEOC’s requests, would be in excess of normal operating costs
and present a great burden.” CA6 R. 13, Appellant Br., at 25.
 No. 23-1719                         EEOC v. Ferrellgas, L.P.                            Page 12

       The district court did not abuse its discretion in rejecting these arguments. “Although the
relevancy standard [in 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-8(a)] places some limitation on the scope of the
EEOC’s investigative authority, courts have generously construed the term ‘relevant’ and have
afforded the Commission access to virtually any material that might cast light on the allegations
against the employer.” United Parcel Service, 859 F.3d at 378 (cleaned up) (quoting Roadway
Express II, 261 F.3d at 639). Accordingly, the Commission need not limit its investigation to a
“review [of] evidence concerning the specific charge[s]” at hand. Id. (quoting Roadway Express
I, 750 F.2d at 43).      Instead, even evidence concerning patterns of race- or sex-based
discrimination “in job classifications or hiring situations other than those that the EEOC’s charge
specifically targeted” may prove relevant. Roadway Express II, 261 F.3d at 639 (citing Blue Bell
Boots, Inc. v. EEOC, 418 F.2d 355, 358 (6th Cir. 1969)).

       Ferrellgas’s relevancy objection fails in two respects. First, the record supports the
district court’s conclusion that Wells charged discrimination not only in Ferrellgas’s pay and
termination practices, but also in its hiring decisions. Wells alleges that when she interviewed
for the service technician role, Ferrellgas’s representatives all but outright told her that they
would not hire a woman — twice informing Wells that the position was “a man’s job” and at one
point asking her if her husband was available to take the job instead. DE 7-2, Charge, Page ID
86. Wells further alleges that, although she was qualified for the service technician position, the
company ultimately hired her as a driver because “they have hired women [service technicians]
in the past and it never worked out.” Id. To be sure, Wells’s charge lacks the magic words
“discriminatory hiring.” But the Commission’s regulations do not hold complaining individuals
to the requirements of artful legal pleading; they demand only that the charge provide
information sufficient “to identify the parties, and to describe generally the action or practices
complained of.” 29 C.F.R. § 1601.12(b); see also EEOC v. UMPC, 471 F. App’x 96, 100 (3d
Cir. 2012) (“[T]he charge does not need to contain the legal theory under which the EEOC
proceeds.”); Sanchez v. Standard Brands, Inc., 431 F.2d 455, 462 (5th Cir. 1970) (“In the context
of a statute like Title VII it is inconceivable that a charging party's rights should be cut off
merely because he fails to articulate correctly the legal conclusion emanating from his factual
allegations.”). Wells’s factual allegations encompass a discriminatory-hiring allegation, and the
material that the Commission seeks — temporally- and geographically-limited information
 No. 23-1719                                EEOC v. Ferrellgas, L.P.                                      Page 13

regarding other individuals who applied for a driver position with Ferrellgas — is directly
relevant to that charge.

         Even if Wells had failed to allege discriminatory hiring, however, the requested material
would still be relevant under the § 2000e-8(a) standard. The application and hiring information
that the Commission seeks could cast light on whether Ferrellgas discriminated against other job
applicants — in the same region and during the same timeframe as Wells’s employment —
based on sex or race. In turn, that information might illuminate whether Ferrellgas discriminated
against Wells on those same bases but in other employment contexts — i.e., in her pay and
termination.      See Roadway Express II, 261 F.3d at 638 (“[E]vidence that an employer
discriminated in one situation or employment position is relevant to a determination of whether
the employer discriminated in other circumstances.”); Ford Motor Credit, 26 F.3d at 47
(“[E]mployment context is relevant to a charge of employment discrimination.”). So even if
Ferrellgas were correct that Wells failed to allege discriminatory hiring, its relevancy objection
would still fall short.

         Ferrellgas’s claim that the subpoena imposes an undue burden also fails. “[W]hether a
subpoena is overly burdensome turns on the nature of the materials sought and the difficulty the
employer will face in producing them.” McLane, 581 U.S. at 81. Given its “fact-intensive”
nature, the burdensomeness inquiry is “generally not amenable to broad per se rules.” Id. (first
quoting Cooter & Gell v. Hartmarx Corp., 496 U.S. 384, 404 (1990), and then quoting
Sprint/United Mgmt. Co. v. Mendelsohn, 552 U.S. 379, 387 (2008)). The employer bears the
obligation to show that compliance would impose an undue burden. Id. at 77.

         The sole evidence on which Ferrellgas relies to show undue burden is an unsigned,
undated declaration. This is not a proper declaration under 28 U.S.C. § 1746, and we therefore
decline to consider it.7 See Blount v. Stanley Eng'g Fastening, 55 F.4th 504, 515 (6th Cir. 2022).

         7
           Ferrellgas asserts that the EEOC forfeited any argument regarding the propriety of the Yendrek
Declaration by failing to raise the issue below. But “[t]his court can affirm a decision of the district court on any
grounds supported by the record, even if different from those relied on by the district court.” Brown v. Tidwell, 169
F.3d 330, 332 (6th Cir. 1999). And in any event, the Commission raised the issue at its earliest available
opportunity. Ferrellgas submitted the unsigned declaration in response to the district court’s order to show cause,
and the district court did not provide for supplemental briefing or oral argument following Ferrellgas’s submission.
 No. 23-1719                            EEOC v. Ferrellgas, L.P.                                 Page 14

        Even if the declaration were properly before the court, however, we would find
Ferrellgas’s contentions unpersuasive. The declaration represents that a search for responsive
records covered by the subpoena would require between 700 and 1500 employee hours that
could otherwise be spent on normal operations. After that, Ferrellgas claims, a human resources
employee would need to dedicate two full weeks of work to compile the records and review them
for responsiveness.

        Assuming these figures are true, Ferrellgas nevertheless fails to explain why they
represent an undue burden.         Assessing whether the burden of compliance is undue is a
comparative exercise; what is unduly burdensome to a small business with a handful of
employees may not be unduly burdensome to a Fortune 500 company. Cf. Maryland Cup Corp.,
785 F.2d at 479 (finding no undue burden where employer failed to show “that the cost of
gathering [responsive] information is unduly burdensome in the light of the company’s normal
operating costs” (emphasis added)). While Ferrellgas’s figures provide an estimate of the
burden it might face, Ferrellgas offers up no baseline against which we can compare its estimates
to decide whether the burden it faces is undue. Merely pointing out that compliance with the
subpoena will divert employee attention from ordinary tasks is insufficient — if that were
enough, then nearly every EEOC subpoena would fail. We are not blind to the fact that
compliance with the Commission’s subpoena will require significant time and effort, but without
some metric of how significant that time and effort is, we cannot find that an employer has met
its burden to show that compliance would be unduly burdensome. See United States v. Chevron
U.S.A., Inc., 186 F.3d 644, 649–50 (5th Cir. 1999) (finding no undue burden where the employer
“offer[ed] no explanation . . . why, relative to [its] size, the compliance cost and effort ‘unduly
disrupt[ed] or seriously hinder[ed] normal operations’” (quoting FTC v. Jim Walter Corp., 651
F.2d 251, 258 (5th Cir. 1981))). Accordingly, the district court did not abuse its discretion in
finding that Ferrellgas faced no undue burden in complying with the subpoena.

                                                    IV.

        For the foregoing reasons, we affirm.

The Commission’s opening brief before this court, in which it raised the issue, was thus its first available
opportunity to do so.