Fiscal Year 2021 Report of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Its Administration of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552

I. BASIC INFORMATION REGARDING REPORT

1. Name, title, address, and telephone number of person(s) to be contacted with questions about the Report.
    

   Michael Heise
   Acting Assistant Legal Counsel/FOIA Public Liaison
   Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
   Office of Legal Counsel
   131 M Street, NE, Suite 5NW02E
   Washington, D.C. 20507
   (202) 921-2681
   (202) 653-6056 (fax)
   FOIA@eeoc.gov (e-mail)

   Tracy Smalls
   Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
   Office of Legal Counsel
   131 M Street, NE, Suite 5NW02E
   Washington, D.C. 20507
   (202) 921-2678
   (202) 653-6056 (fax)
   FOIA@eeoc.gov (e-mail)

   Rhonda Durham
   Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
   Office of Legal Counsel
   131 M Street, NE, Suite 5NW02E
   Washington, D.C. 20507
   (202) 921-2676
   (202) 653-6056 (fax)
   FOIA@eeoc.gov (e-mail)

2. Provide an electronic link for access to the Report on the agency Web site.
   
   https://www.eeoc.gov/foia
3. Explain how to obtain a copy of the Report in paper form.

   Michael Heise
   Acting Assistant Legal Counsel/FOIA Public Liaison
   Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
   Office of Legal Counsel
   131 M Street, NE, Suite 5NW02E
   Washington, D.C. 20507
   (202) 921-2681
   (202) 653-6056 (fax)
   FOIA@eeoc.gov (e-mail)

   Tracy Smalls
   Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
   Office of Legal Counsel
   131 M Street, NE, Suite 5NW02E
   Washington, D.C. 20507
   (202) 921-2678
   (202) 653-6056 (fax)
   FOIA@eeoc.gov (e-mail)

   Rhonda Durham
   Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
   Office of Legal Counsel
   131 M Street, NE, Suite 5NW02E
   Washington, D.C. 20507
   (202) 921-2676
   (202) 653-6056 (fax)
   FOIA@eeoc.gov (e-mail)

II. MAKING A FOIA REQUEST

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests should be made in accordance with the Commission's regulations at 29 C.F.R. §1610.7. The regulations can be accessed at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_10/29cfr1610_10.html

1. Names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all individual agency components that receive FOIA requests.
   
   See 29 C.F.R. §1610.4 and the agency's FOIA web page at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2011-title29-vol4/xml/CFR-2011-title29-vol4-part1610.xml for the EEOC FOIA contacts.
2. Brief description of why some requests are not granted and an overview of certain general categories of the agency's records to which the FOIA exemptions apply.
   
   The majority of fiscal year 2018 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, et. seq. (Title VII), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 621-633 (ADEA), the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101-213 (ADA), the Equal Pay Act, 29 U.S.C. § 206(d) (EPA), and Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), 42 U.S.C. § 2000ff, et seq. Sections 706(b) and 709(e) of Title VII, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e-5(b) and 8(e), §107 of the ADA, 42 U.S.C. § 12117, and § 207(a)(1) of GINA, 42 U.S.C. § 2000ff-6 prohibit Commission employees from making Title VII, ADA or GINA charges, conciliation materials, case file information and required reports public. In certain instances, parties to the charge are entitled access to the disclosable portions of the charge file. Examples of non-disclosable material in charge files are discussed in detail in section XII of this report.
3. Electronic link to agency FOIA regulations and fee schedule:
   
   https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2013-title29-vol4/xml/CFR-2013-title29-vol4-part1610.xml

III. ACRONYMS, DEFINITIONS, AND EXEMPTIONS

1. Acronyms used in this report:
   1. EEOC - Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
   2. E-FOIA - Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments, 5 U.S.C. § 552, Pub. L. No. 104-231, 110 Stat 3048.
   3. FAQ - Frequently asked questions
   4. FX - FOIAXPress.  FX tracks all incoming FOIA requests and appeals, as well as requests submitted through the Requester Service Center. The FTS also captures information required for the Annual FOIA Report.
2. Definitions of Terms Used in this Report
   1. Administrative Appeal - a request to a federal agency asking that it review at a higher administrative level a FOIA determination made by the agency at the initial request level.
   2. Average Number - the number obtained by dividing the sum of a group of numbers by the quantity of numbers in the group. For example, of 3, 7, and 14, the average number is 8.
   3. Backlog - the number of requests or administrative appeals that are pending at an agency at the end of the fiscal year that are beyond the statutory time period for a response.
   4. Component - for agencies that process requests on a decentralized basis, a "component" is an entity, also sometimes referred to as an Office, Division, Bureau, Center, or Directorate, within the agency that processes FOIA requests. The FOIA now requires that agencies include in their Annual FOIA Report data for both the agency overall and for each principal component of the agency.
   5. Consultation - the procedure whereby the agency responding to a FOIA request first forwards a record to another agency for its review because that other agency has an interest in the document. Once the agency in receipt of the consultation finishes its review of the record, it responds back to the agency that forwarded it. That agency, in turn, will then respond to the FOIA requester.
   6. Exemption 3 Statute - a federal statute that exempts information from disclosure and which the agency relies on to withhold information under subsection (b)(3)(A)(i) of the FOIA.
   7. FOIA Request - a FOIA request is generally a request to a federal agency for access to records concerning another person (i.e., a "third-party" request), or concerning an organization, or a particular topic of interest. FOIA requests also include requests made by requesters seeking records concerning themselves (i.e., "first-party" requests) when those requesters are not subject to the Privacy Act, such as non-U.S. citizens. Moreover, because all first-party requesters should be afforded the benefit of both the access provisions of the FOIA as well as those of the Privacy Act, FOIA requests also include any first-party requests where an agency determines that it must search beyond its Privacy Act "systems of records" or where a Privacy Act exemption applies, and the agency looks to FOIA to afford the greatest possible access. All requests which require the agency to utilize the FOIA in responding to the requester are included in this Report. Additionally, a FOIA request includes records referred to the agency for processing and direct response to the requester. It does not, however, include records for which the agency has received a consultation from another agency. (Consultations are reported separately in Section XII of this Report.)
   8. Full Grant - an agency decision to disclose all records in full in response to a FOIA request.
   9. Full Denial - an agency decision not to release any records in response to a FOIA request because the records are exempt in their entireties under one or more of the FOIA exemptions, or because of a procedural reason, such as when no records could be located.
   10. Median Number - the middle, not average, number. For example, of 3, 7, and 14, the median number is 7.
   11. Multi-Track Processing - a system in which simple requests requiring relatively minimal review are placed in one processing track and more voluminous and complex requests are placed in one or more other tracks. Requests granted expedited processing are placed in yet another track. Requests in each track are processed on a first in/first out basis.
       1. Expedited Processing - an agency will process a FOIA request on an expedited basis when a requester satisfies the requirements for expedited processing as set forth in the statute and in agency regulations.
       2. Simple Request - a FOIA request that an agency using multi-track processing places in its fastest (non-expedited) track based on the low volume and/or simplicity of the records requested.
       3. Complex Request - a FOIA request that an agency using multi-track processing places in a slower track based on the high volume and/or complexity of the records requested.

       Partial Grant/Partial Denial - in response to a FOIA request, an agency decision to disclose portions of the records and to withhold other portions that are exempt under the FOIA, or to otherwise deny a portion of the request for a procedural reason.

   12. Pending Request or Pending Administrative Appeal - a request or administrative appeal for which an agency has not taken final action in all respects.
   13. Perfected Request - a request for records which reasonably describes such records and is made in accordance with published rules stating the time, place, fees (if any) and procedures to be followed.
   14. Processed Request or Processed Administrative Appeal - a request or administrative appeal for which an agency has taken final action in all respects.
   15. Range in Number of Days - the lowest and highest number of days to process requests or administrative appeals.
   16. Section 83 - refers to Section 83 of the EEOC Compliance Manual Volume I which provides for access to relevant case files by charging parties, aggrieved persons on whose behalf a charge has been filed, and entities against whom charges have been filed. 29 C.F.R. § 1610.17(d). r. Time Limits - the time period in the statute for an agency to respond to a FOIA request (ordinarily twenty working days from receipt of a perfected FOIA request).
3. Concise Descriptions of FOIA
   1. Exemption 1 - classified national defense and foreign relations information. Exemptions
   2. Exemption 2 - internal agency rules and practices.
   3. Exemption 3 - information that is prohibited from disclosure by another federal law: (A) any Title VII , ADA or GINA charge file information requested by anyone other than the Charging Party or the Respondent to the charge, such as the charge file or information concerning the existence of charge files, (B) Title VII, ADA or GINA information requested by the Charge Party or the Respondent after the time limit for filing a lawsuit has expired and no lawsuit has been filed, (C) reference to other Title VII, ADA or GINA charges in the charge file, (D) EEO reports required to be filed under Title VII, if requester has not filed suit against the respondent, or (E) information submitted by unsuccessful bidders for contracts with the EEOC.
   4. Exemption 4 - trade secrets and other confidential business information.
   5. Exemption 5 - inter-agency or intra-agency communications that are protected by legal privileges.
   6. Exemption 6 - information involving matters of personal privacy.
   7. Exemption 7 - records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes, to the extent that the production of those records (A) could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings, (B) would deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication, (C) could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, (D) could reasonably be expected to disclose the identity of a confidential source, (E) would disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions, or would disclose guidelines for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions, or (F) could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual.
   8. Exemption 8 - information relating to the supervision of financial institutions.
   9. Exemption 9 - geological information on wells.