Court Opinion

ID: 9551471
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 18:54:08.466171+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:23:57.176509
License: Public Domain

Fromme, J.,
dissenting. The records and information sought by the Commission are not reasonably relevant to the complaint being investigated. The subpoena of the Commission imposes an unreasonable burden upon the employer and is oppressive. (See rule stated in majority opinion Syl. f 6.)
The complaint of Arnold D. Lopez being investigated by the Commission charges that Santa Fe discriminated against him and *126terminated his employment because he is a Mexican-American. He was hired on a temporary basis, pending investigation of his employment application, as a “trackman”. The work of a “trackman” requires the employee to work closely with five to seven fellow employees. They live together in “bunk cars” or hotels for substantial periods of time. They are occasionally required to drive their own cars to the work site.
When Santa Fe made an investigation of the job applicant it discovered that Arnold D. Lopez had a history of twenty convictions of assaults, drunkenness, battery, resisting arrest and driving without a valid driver s license. Said convictions were of such a nature as to adversely affect his job performance as a “trackman”. His temporary employment was terminated.
The foregoing facts were disclosed to the Commission and are not in dispute. Nevertheless the Commission issued the present subpoena seeking:
“Complete and total personnel records, including, but not limited to the ‘Arrest and Conviction Records’, of all employees hired into the ‘Trackman’ classification during the calendar year, 1972, in the Eastern Division, Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, Emporia, Kansas.”
K. S. A. 44-1006 (Weeks) provides:
“. . . Nothing in this act shall be construed to mean that an employer shall be forced to hire unqualified or incompetent personnel, or discharge qualified or competent personnel.”
The subpoena issued by the Commission does not relate to any records which could assist them in determining the existence of discrimination based upon national origin. It shifts the investigation to discrimination against those who have conviction records adversely affecting job performance which is not within the area of concern of the Commission and not protected by law.
The majority of this court justifies the relevancy of the expanded investigation by saying that discrimination because of national origin is the controlling issue. The subpoena power is, therefore, being properly used to obtain arrest and conviction records of all employees of Santa Fe to inquire into the good faith of Santa Fe. It is said that this is reasonably relevant and not unduly oppressive because the Commission has a right to' determine from these arrest and conviction records whether Lopez was terminated because of his national origin. This court states that the twenty convictions for assaults, drunkenness, DWI, battery, resisting arrest and driving *127without a valid drivers license may have been only a pretextual reason used to cover up bias based on national origin. I cannot accept this premise. It can have no valid basis. “Fishing expeditions” may now be permitted but there remains the requirement that a subpoena be reasonably relevant to the subject matter of the complaint being investigated and cannot be unreasonable and oppressive. Accordingly, I would affirm the district court.
Fatzer, C. J. and Fontron, J., join in the foregoing dissent.