E-Alert: Federal Contractors Must Object to Disclosure of EEO-1 Reports by 9/19/22

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) received a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) seeking Type 2 EEO-1 Report data submitted by all federal contractors and first tier subcontractors from 2016-2020. Type 2 EEO-1 data consists of the demographic breakdown of the employer’s workforce by gender, race, and ethnicity. It further consists of data based on EEO-1 job category. The information in the Type 2 EEO-1 reports could give competitors insight on the company’s operations, hiring strategies, and other related data.

On August 19, 2022, however, OFCCP published a notice in the Federal Register indicating its intent to release all Type 2 Consolidated EEO-1 Report data submitted by all federal contractors and first-tier subcontractors from 2016-2020. Because this information has generally been treated as confidential under FOIA, the OFCCP is providing an opportunity for employers to object in writing. Objections must be submitted by September 19, 2022.

Failure to object to the release of EEO-1 reports will result in the disclosure of contractor EEO-1 data. For federal contractors and first tier subcontractors who timely object, the OFCCP will independently evaluate the objections and in the event it decides to disclose information, it will provide written notice to contractors including reasons for not sustaining the objections, a description of information to be disclosed, and a specified disclosure date that is a reasonable time after the federal contractor receives notice from the OFCCP.

Notably, failure to object now could potentially affect an employer’s ability to successfully object to additional requests received in the future.

CGWG has extensive experience representing federal contractors, and we have already prepared several objection packets for our clients. If you have any questions or need assistance in objecting to the disclosure of the Type 2 EEO-1 data, please contact one of our attorneys at 501-371-9999 or by email (info@cgwg.com).