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U.S. Master™ Wage-Hour Guide, 2009 Edition 
Presents a first approach to the broad and complex controls under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and other statutes regulating employee wages and hours.
Magistrate Judge Janie S. Mayeron, of US District Court for the District of Minnesota, has ordered Minnesota-based frozen food delivery company Schwan's Home Service to comply with a subpoena issued by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) pursuant to its investigation of a Title VII sex discrimination charge filed by former Schwan's employee Kim Milliren. The subpoena seeks personnel information about persons employed as general managers at Schwan's facilities nationwide from January 1, 2006 to the present. On March 8, 2010, Judge Mayerson ordered the company to comply with the subpoena by March 29. Schwan's Home Service is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Schwan's Food Company, based in Marshall, Minnesota.
The EEOC filed a subpoena enforcement proceeding on October 5, 2009 (EEOC v Schwan's Home Serv, No 09-84 (JRT/JSM)) after first giving Schwan's several opportunities to provide the requested information voluntarily, which would have allowed the investigation to remain confidential, according to the federal agency. In opposing the EEOC's enforcement of the subpoena, Schwan's accused the EEOC of pursuing a "fishing expedition" and suggested that the EEOC may be engaging in misconduct.
The case arises from a Title VII charge received by the EEOC's Minneapolis area office on July 2, 2007, in which Milliren alleged that she was discriminated against on the basis of gender and subjected to sexual harassment and retaliation during her employment with Schwan's Home Service. Milliren was selected to participate in Schwan's General Manager Development Program, a training program that trains candidates to be location general managers at its warehouse depots throughout the country. Since that time, the EEOC has been investigating whether Milliren and other women were subjected to sex discrimination in the General Manager Development Program.
“Make no mistake about it; the EEOC will take recalcitrant employers to court and will enforce its subpoenas,” said John Rowe, director of the EEOC's Chicago district office, which is managing the investigation. “As the court's opinion demonstrates, the EEOC is on solid legal footing to seek information it deems relevant during an investigation of systemic discrimination.”
“Employers who try to thwart an EEOC investigation by resisting a subpoena do themselves no favors as they will likely end up on the losing side in court, and they will make the investigation public,” added EEOC Regional Attorney John Hendrickson. “Ongoing EEOC investigations are not matters of the public record unless and until we are forced to go to court to enforce a subpoena.”
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