In the case of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Shell Oil Co., 1983, the U.S Supreme Court ruled that employers are required to comply with requests for information from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) during investigations into alleged discrimination. The EEOC had sought employment records from Shell Oil as part of a racial discrimination investigation following a complaint by an African American employee who was denied promotion and subsequently fired. However, Shell refused to provide these documents arguing that EEOC lacked authority to demand them since it hadn't determined reasonable cause for believing discrimination occurred yet. The court disagreed with this argument stating that such determinations could only be made after relevant data is reviewed hence affirming EEOC's right to access necessary information even before establishing reasonable cause.

In the dissenting opinion for the case Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Shell Oil Co., Justice Powell argued that Congress did not intend to grant subpoena power to the EEOC without judicial review of its relevance and necessity. He believed that such unchecked authority would be an invasion of privacy and could potentially lead to abuse by government agencies, which contradicts constitutional principles. Furthermore, he contended that it was inappropriate for a court order enforcing a subpoena to be issued without first determining whether there is reasonable cause for believing discrimination occurred. The majority's interpretation, according to him, disregarded these important safeguards against arbitrary governmental intrusion into private affairs.