The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
REPORT OF THE
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION
ON ITS ADMINISTRATION OF THE
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT
(5 U.S.C. 552)
FOR JANUARY - SEPTEMBER 1997
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission submits the
Commission's Freedom of Information Act Report for January through
September 1997 to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the
Honorable Newt Gingrich, and the President of the Senate, the
Honorable Albert Gore Jr., to be referred to the appropriate
committees of both Houses of Congress. The basic format of this
report continues to follow that suggested in the July 1, 1975
letter of Senator Edward M. Kennedy and Representative Bella S.
Abzug.
- Most 1997 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests received
by the Commission were for materials contained in the Commission's
investigative case files that involved charges of discrimination
filed pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42
U.S.C. 2000e, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C.
621-33, the Equal Pay Act, 29 U.S.C. 206(d), and the Americans with
Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. 12101-213. Sections 706(b) and 709(e)
of Title VII, 42 U.S.C. 2000e-5(b) and 8(e), and section 107 of the
ADA, 42 U.S.C. 12117 prohibit Commission employees from making
Title VII or ADA charges, conciliation materials, required reports
and case file information public.
The Commission's initial determinations on requests for records
pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552(a) were as follows:
Requests granted in full 2,661
Requests granted in part
and denied in part 7,622
Requests denied in full 1,017
Requests withdrawn 657
Requests neither granted nor denied 834\FN1
Pendings 882
Total number of requests 13,673
- The following statutory exemptions were relied on in initial
determinations not to disclose requested records:
Exemption invoked Number of times invoked\FN2
5 U.S.C. 552(b)(1) 0
5 U.S.C. 552(b)(2) 77
5 U.S.C. 552(b)(3)\FN3 1,132
5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4) 4
5 U.S.C. 552(b)(5) 7,348
5 U.S.C. 552(b)(6) 314
5 U.S.C. 552(b)(7)(A) 621
5 U.S.C. 552(b)(7)(B) 0
5 U.S.C. 552(b)(7)(C) 1,048
5 U.S.C. 552(b)(7)(D) 95
5 U.S.C. 552(b)(7)(E) 1
5 U.S.C. 552(b)(7)(F) 0
5 U.S.C. 552(b)(8) 0
5 U.S.C. 552(b)(9) 0
Failure to pay prior fees 8
- Determinations on FOIA requests were made by (a) the Assistant
Legal Counsel, Advice and External Litigation Division, Office of
Legal Counsel,(b) the Assistant Legal Counsel/FOIA, Office of Legal
Counsel, and (c) the Regional Attorneys, pursuant to 29 C.F.R.
1610.8.
- The number of appeals from adverse initial determinations made
pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(6) were as follows:
Appeals in which the initial
determination was upheld 162
Appeals in which the initial
determination was upheld in
part and reversed in part 93
Appeals in which the initial
determination was reversed 23
Appeals withdrawn 4
Appeals remanded 32
Appeals neither granted nor denied 8
Untimely filing 0
Total number of appeals 314\FN4
- There was one appeal from an adverse initial determination
pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(4)(A) (assessment of fee from record
search).
- The authorities relied on for total or partial denials of
information on appeal were as follows:
Exemption invoked Number of times invoked\FN5
5 U.S.C. 552(b)(1) 0
5 U.S.C. 552(b)(2) 0
5 U.S.C. 552(b)(3) 69
5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4) 1
5 U.S.C. 552(b)(5) 154
5 U.S.C. 552(b)(6) 17
5 U.S.C. 552(b)(7)(A) 53
5 U.S.C. 552(b)(7)(B) 2
5 U.S.C. 552(b)(7)(C) 78
5 U.S.C. 552(b)(7)(D) 2
5 U.S.C. 552(b)(7)(E) 1
5 U.S.C. 552(b)(7)(F) 0
5 U.S.C. 552(b)(8) 0
5 U.S.C. 552(b)(9) 0
Untimely Filings 0
- Determinations on FOIA appeals were made by the (a) Deputy
Legal Counsel, (b) the Assistant Legal Counsel, Advice and External
Litigation Division, Office of the Legal Counsel, and © the
Assistant Legal Counsel/FOIA, Office of Legal Counsel pursuant to
29 C.F.R. 1610.11(b).
- There were no proceedings under 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(4)(F) during
1996.
- The regulations implementing 5 U.S.C. 552, published at 29
C.F.R. Part 1610, are attached to this report.
- In 1996, the total amount of fees collected for making records
available was $83,320.86. Fees were waived when the Commission
determined that to do so would be in the public interest.
- The following information is furnished pursuant to 5 U.S.C.
552(e)(7) as indicative of the Commission's efforts to administer
this section.
- The Commission's published regulations, 29 C.F.R.
sections 1610.5 through 1610.11, set forth the procedures by which
members of the public may obtain copies of records under the FOIA.
The regulations specify information that the Commission will
disclose. 29 C.F.R. section 1610.18. They describe records which
are exempt from disclosure under the statute. 29 C.F.R. section
1610.17. They also describe information that routinely is made
available in public reading areas for inspection and copying. 29
C.F.R. section 1610.4. The regulations permit Commission officials
and employees to continue informally to furnish to the public
without compliance with FOIA procedures, records that customarily
were provided to the public prior to the enactment of the FOIA. 29
C.F.R. section 1610.3. The regulations also provide that the
Commission will make available exempt records, to the extent that
it is not prohibited from doing so by other laws, whenever it
determines that such disclosure is in the public interest. 29
C.F.R. section 1610.3.
- Commission personnel devoted an estimated 38,133.25
hours of time to administer the FOIA in 1997. This time was spent
searching for records, preparing initial FOIA responses, and
preparing appeal determinations.
Footnotes:
- Includes requests for documents that had been
destroyed or that had not been reasonably described, and requests
for which there were no responsive documents.
- A number of determinations were based on
multiple exemptions.
- The following statutory references were
invoked pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(3): Section 706(b) of Title
VII, Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 2000e-5(b);
and Section 709(e) of Title VII, Civil Rights Act of 1964, as
amended, 42 U.S.C. 2000e-8(e).
- The Total Number of Appeals includes the fee
waiver stated in #5.
- In a number of instances more than one
exemption was utilized to deny a given request on appeal.
This page was last modified on January 25, 1999.
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