Quck updates this morning on a couple of previous posts, both involving food. 

First, I wrote here about the EEOC’s effort to obtain documents from Schwan’s in a sexual discrimination case.  As expected, Judge Janie Mayeron ruled in favor of the EEOC and has ordered the frozen food company to produce the information sought by the government.

Second, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the turducken case to consider the privacy rights of government contract employees. 

Now if we could just get the EEOC to investigate the contents of that  turducken!

The Supreme Court seems likely to accept a case involving background checks on employees who do contract work for the government, a legal hodgepodge which one judge has analogized to a turducken (a turkey stuffed with a duck and a chicken). 

The case was brought by a group of scientists and engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a research facility operated by CalTech under a contract with NASA.  In 2004, the government expanded the scope of background checks required for many government jobs, including those held by contract employees like those at the lab.  The plaintiffs claim that the government’s investigations are overly intrusive and violate their privacy rights.  The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the plaintiffs, and the government has asked the Supreme Court to hear the matter.

The plaintiffs particularly object to requests for information being solicited from schools, landlords, employers and other third parties, especially “adverse” information about alcohol and drug use; finances; and mental or emotional stability.  One form also gives informants space to provide “derogatory” information about the subject.