By: Caroline Moughan and Evan Szarenski
A United States District Judge ruled on December 22nd that the consolidated EEO-1 reports of federal contractors that were withheld by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) must be released. Judge William Alsup of the Northern District of California ordered OFCCP to release the remaining EEO-1 reports within 28 days, which was later extended to February 20th.
Between 2019 and 2022, reporter Will Evans with the Center for Investigative Reporting submitted Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to OFCCP for the consolidated (type 2) EEO-1 reports for all federal contractors between 2016 and 2020. In August 2022, OFCCP gave contractors an opportunity to object by publishing a notice in the Federal Register. In April 2023, OFCCP released the EEO-1 reports of all federal contractors who did not object to this release. However, OFCCP did not release the EEO-1 reports for the 4,796 contractors who objected. In the meantime, the Center for Investigative Reporting and Mr. Evans sued the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), which oversees OFCCP, seeking an order requiring it to produce the requested EEO-1 reports.
The DOL argued that EEO-1 reports are exempt from disclosure under FOIA because they contain commercial or financial information that is confidential and that disclosure of the EEO-1 reports is prohibited under the Trade Secrets Act. The court ruled that the EEO-1 reports are not commercial because they do not provide commercial insight into business operations. Consequently, they are not exempt from disclosure under FOIA. The court also found that the Trade Secrets Act does not prohibit the disclosure of the EEO-1 Reports. As a result, the court ordered DOL to disclose the EEO-1 reports.
Federal contractors should prepare for potential outcomes of EEO-1 disclosure, as the DOL has a deadline of February 20th to either release the remaining EEO-1 reports or appeal this decision.
DCI will continue monitoring future developments.
