DOL Must Release EEO-1 Reports to the Public under Open Records Laws

EEO-1 reports, also known as Standard Form 100, are required annually from employers of 100 or more employees and of federal contractor workforces.  The reports state the number of employees, job categories and demographic makeup of workforces, providing data about employee diversity.  In July, a federal appeals court ruled that DOL must release thousands of federal contractor worker demographic reports to a news outlet, because they are not protected from public disclosure under the “commercial” information exemption.  Center for Investigative Reporting v. U.S. Department of Labor, No. 24-880 (9th Cir., 7/30/25).  While this case only dealt with the issue pertaining to federal contractors, similar issues may come up with other employers in the future.  

Previously, the DOL published a notice giving federal contractors an opportunity to object to the release of their reports.  Based on those objections, DOL withheld from disclosure more than 16,000 reports for more than 4,000 contractors.  The contractors were concerned about the release of such information because it might disadvantage them against their competitors and also because it might result in adverse publicity and/or future litigation.

In a related development, the EEOC is proposing to eliminate the non-binary identification option on the report, which allowed employers to characterize workers outside of “male” and “female” on the EEO-1 reports.  Other than the proposed elimination of the non-binary gender option, the proposed EEO-1 report is basically the same as in past years.  The proposed change is to comply with President Trump’s January 20 executive order directing federal agencies to recognize only two sexes.  The EEOC has already rolled back non-binary marker options on internal commissions forms. 

This article is part of our September 2025 Newsletter. 

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