By Joanna Colosimo
On July 30, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit upheld a decision requiring the Department of Labor (DOL) to release EEO-1 reports for federal contractors. The EEO-1 reports detail the racial, gender, and ethnic makeup of contractor workforces and were requested by nonprofit news organization Center for Investigative Reporting under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Contractors had the opportunity to file objections to the release of EEO-1 report data under FOIA Exemption 4, and many opted to do so. In this matter, DOL argued that the reports contained confidential commercial information, but the court found this was not the case and ruled that the reports must be disclosed.
In the ruling, the Court of Appeals in the 9th Circuit stated that “Information is ‘commercial’ under Exemption 4 of FOIA if it is an object of commerce or has commerce as its subject.” Because the EEO-1 reports alone do not reveal contractors’ production details or resulting profits, they are not “commercial” in nature. Thus, the court’s order concludes that DOL must disclose the EEO-1 reports to The Center for Investigative Reporting.
Federal contractors that used Exemption 4 of FOIA to object to the release of EEO-1 data to the Center for Investigative Reporting should prepare for potential outcomes of EEO-1 disclosure. DCI will continue to monitor this situation and provide updates as necessary.