EEOC Files Subpoena Enforcement Action Against Gallup-McKinley County Schools

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today a federal court filing to enforce two administrative subpoenas it issued during its investigation into allegations Gallup-McKinley County Schools (GMCS) engaged in intentionally discriminatory hiring and other unlawful employment practices against Native American applicants and employees.

GMCS is comprised of multiple elementary, middle, and high schools serving students in the city of Gallup and other areas of McKinley County, New Mexico. In August 2024, then-Commissioner, now EEOC Acting Chair Andrea Lucas filed a Commissioner’s Charge of discrimination against GMCS. The charge alleged GMCS engaged in a pattern or practice of intentional discrimination against Native American employees and job applicants in interviewing, hiring, promoting, classifying, and other employment practices based on race for the job categories of classroom teacher, administrator, or principal. Such conduct may violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

As part of its investigation, the EEOC requested interviews with two high-level GMCS administrators. GMCS initially agreed to these interviews but canceled the interviews the day before they were scheduled to take place and refused to cooperate further with the EEOC’s investigation. The EEOC then issued two administrative subpoenas for deposition testimony from the witnesses, but the witnesses failed to appear for the administrative depositions and GMCS failed to follow the administrative appeal process available for review of an EEOC subpoena.

“A Commissioner’s Charge is an important statutory tool expressly enshrined in Title VII for investigation into potentially discriminatory employment practices,” said EEOC Acting Chair Andrea Lucas. “Allegations of intentional exclusion of Native Americans from certain jobs at Gallup-McKinley County Schools require a prompt and thorough investigation by the EEOC. When employers refuse to comply voluntarily with an EEOC investigation or otherwise hinder an investigation’s progress, the EEOC will not hesitate to pursue all available remedies, including a subpoena enforcement action in federal court.”

The EEOC filed the enforcement action, EEOC v. Gallup-McKinley County Schools, Case No. 1:25-mc-00025, in U.S. District Court for the New Mexico, after first attempting to obtain voluntary compliance with its investigative requests.

The EEOC’s Phoenix District Office has jurisdiction over complaints in Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and part of New Mexico.

The EEOC is the sole federal agency authorized to investigate and litigate against businesses and other private sector employers for violations of federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. For public sector employers, the EEOC shares jurisdiction with the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division; the EEOC is responsible for investigating charges against state and local government employers before referring them to DOJ for potential litigation. The EEOC also is responsible for coordinating the federal government’s employment antidiscrimination effort. More information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.