EEOC—Subpoena—Attorney-Client Privilege.

EEOC v. BDO USA, L.L.P., 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 23067 (5th Cir. 2017). The EEOC subpoenaed certain documents and the employer asserted that some of the documents were protected by the attorney-client privilege because they involved communications between a corporate employee and the corporation’s attorney. The district court granted the employer’s motion for a protective order after requiring the EEOC to disprove the employer’s assertion of the attorney-client privilege as to the withheld documents. The Fifth Circuit reversed. The employer, not the EEOC, bears the burden of proof regarding a privilege asserted by an employer.