## Facts

- A female faculty member filed a Title VII charge with the EEOC alleging sex discrimination by Mississippi College.
- Mississippi College is a liberal arts college owned and operated by the Mississippi Baptist Convention and maintained a written policy preferring active Baptists in hiring.
- During its investigation, the EEOC issued a subpoena seeking personnel and employment records, including information beyond the charging party.
- Mississippi College refused to comply, asserting (1) Title VII’s religious exemption removed it from EEOC investigatory authority and (2) compelled disclosure would violate the First Amendment by intruding into religious affairs.
- The EEOC petitioned the federal district court to enforce the subpoena; the district court denied enforcement.
- The EEOC appealed; the proceeding concerned subpoena enforcement, not the merits of the discrimination charge.

## Issues

1. Whether Title VII’s religious exemption in 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-1 bars EEOC investigation of alleged sex discrimination at a religiously affiliated college.
2. Whether enforcing the EEOC subpoena would violate the First Amendment by burdening religious exercise or creating excessive entanglement with religion.
3. Whether the subpoena sought information sufficiently relevant to the charge, or was overbroad.

## Decision

- The Fifth Circuit vacated the district court’s order denying enforcement and remanded.
- The court held Mississippi College is subject to Title VII with respect to sex discrimination; § 2000e-1 exempts only religious-based employment decisions, not discrimination on nonreligious protected grounds such as sex.
- The court held subpoena enforcement limited to investigating secular employment practices does not, by itself, violate the First Amendment, so long as the inquiry avoids doctrinal matters.
- The court directed the district court on remand to enforce the subpoena to the extent the requested material is relevant to the sex-discrimination charge, with authority to narrow requests that are only tenuously relevant or that would cause unnecessary constitutional concerns.

## Legal Principles

- The Title VII religious exemption in 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-1 shields religious employers from Title VII only “with respect to” hiring or employing individuals “of a particular religion”; it does not exempt religious employers from Title VII’s prohibitions on sex discrimination.
- In subpoena-enforcement proceedings, courts do not decide the merits of the underlying discrimination claim; they assess whether the agency acts within its authority and whether the subpoena seeks information reasonably relevant to the charge and stated with sufficient definiteness.
- Government investigation of a religious institution’s employment practices may proceed under generally applicable civil rights law when focused on secular aspects and structured to avoid inquiry into religious doctrine or ecclesiastical decisionmaking.
- Courts may tailor or limit enforcement of an EEOC subpoena where requested materials lack reasonable relevance to the charge or would create avoidable constitutional difficulties.

## Conclusion

The Fifth Circuit held that a religiously affiliated college is not exempt from EEOC investigation of alleged sex discrimination under Title VII’s religious exemption and that subpoena enforcement is constitutionally permissible when confined to secular employment practices; it vacated the denial of enforcement and remanded for relevance-based, appropriately limited enforcement.


Equal Emp. Opportunity Comm’n v. Mississippi Coll., 626 F.2d 477 (5th Cir. 1980)