[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 29, Volume 4]
[Revised as of July 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 29CFR1610.17]

[Page 240-241]
 
                             TITLE 29--LABOR
 
                               COMMISSION
 
PART 1610--AVAILABILITY OF RECORDS--Table of Contents
 
         Subpart A--Production or Disclosure Under 5 U.S.C. 552
 
Sec. 1610.17  Exemptions.

    (a) 5 U.S.C. 552 exempts from all of its publication and disclosure 
requirements nine categories of records which are described in 552(b). 
These categories include such matters as national defense and foreign 
policy information, investigatory files, internal procedures and 
communications, materials exempted from disclosure by other statutes, 
information given in confidence, and matters involving personal privacy.
    (b) Section 706(b) of title VII provides that the Commission shall 
not make public charges which have been filed. It also provides that 
(subsequent to the filing of a charge, an investigation, and a finding 
that there is reasonable cause to believe that the charge is true) 
nothing said or done during and as a part of the Commission's endeavors 
to eliminate any alleged unlawful employment practice by informal 
methods of conference, conciliation, and persuasion may be made public 
by the Commission without the written consent of the parties concerned; 
nor may it be used as evidence in a subsequent proceeding. Any officer 
or employee of the Commission who shall make public in any manner 
whatever any information in violation of section 706(b) shall be deemed 
guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not 
more than $1,000 or imprisoned not more than 1 year.
    (c) Section 709 of title VII authorizes the Commission to conduct 
investigations of charges filed under section 706, engage in cooperative 
efforts with State and local agencies charged with the administration of 
State or local fair employment practices laws, and issue regulations 
concerning reports and record-keeping. Section (e) of section 709 
provides that it shall be unlawful for any officer or employee of the 
Commission to make public in any manner whatever any information 
obtained by the Commission pursuant to its authority under section 709 
prior to the institution of any proceeding under the act involving such 
information. Any officer or employee of the Commission who shall make 
public in any manner whatever any information in violation of section 
709(e) shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof 
shall be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned not more than 1 year.
    (d) Special disclosure rules apply to the case files for charging 
parties, aggrieved persons on whose behalf a charge has been filed, and 
entities against whom charges have been filed. The special disclosure 
rules are available in the public reading areas of the Commission. Under 
sections 706 and 709, case files involved in the administrative process 
of the Commission are not available to the public.
    (e) Each executed statistical reporting form required under part 
1602 of this chapter, such as Employer Information Report EEO-1, etc., 
relating to a particular employer is exempt from disclosure to the 
public prior to the institution of a proceeding under title VII 
involving information from such form.
    (f) Section 107 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 
U.S.C. 12117) explicitly adopts the powers, remedies, and procedures set 
forth in sections 706 and 709 of title VII. Accordingly, the 
prohibitions on disclosure contained in sections 706 and 709 of title 
VII as outlined in paragraphs (b), (c), (d), and (e) of this section, 
apply with equal force to requests for information related to charges 
and executed statistical reporting forms filed with the Commission under 
the Americans with Disabilities Act.
    (g) Requests for information relating to open case files covering 
alleged violations of the Equal Pay Act (29 U.S.C. 206(b)) or the Age 
Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 621

[[Page 241]]

et seq. ) will ordinarily be denied under the seventh exemption of the 
Freedom of Information Act as investigatory records compiled for law 
enforcement purposes.
    (h) The medical, financial, and personnel files of employees of the 
Commission are exempt from disclosure to the public.

[40 FR 8171, Feb. 26, 1975, as amended at 45 FR 40605, June 16, 1980; 56 
FR 29579, June 28, 1991]