The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has been barred by the D.C. Circuit from divulging confidential employer information to a third party until it can show that its disclosure rules do not conflict with various federal laws, including the Freedom of Information Act and the Trade Secrets Act.

In the course of its investigation of age discrimination complaints brought against the Venetian Casino Resort, the EEOC required submission of numerous documents that the company had marked confidential. The company subsequently sued for an injunction, contending that an EEOC rule permitting it to disclose an employer’s confidential information to potential plaintiffs without first notifying the employer that its information will be disclosed violated the FOIA.

The company’s concern was that competitors and labor unions would obtain confidential information regarding its hiring practices, which they could use to its economic detriment.

The D.C. Circuit found that the EEOC could not provide a reconciliation between its rule and the FOIA. “Absent an adequate justification, the Commission’s disclosure policy must be deemed arbitrary and capricious,” the Court holds, and remands the case to the district court to enjoin the EEOC from disclosing the company’s confidential information without adhering to the notice and other requirements of the agency’s regulations implementing the FOIA. Venetian Casino Resort LLC v. EEOC