Based on Federal 9th Circuit Court Decision, OFCCP to Disclose Five Years of Government Contractors' EEO-1 Reports
OFCCP Announced It Will Release the Reports to
The Center for Investigative Reporting on
February 25, 2026
Background
Over the past several years, OFCCP’s parent agency – the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) –represented by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) – has battled in federal court with The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) over CIR’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to OFCCP for all federal contactor EEO-1 Reports for the years 2016 through 2020.
In late 2023, a California District Court ruled that these EEO-1 Reports are not protected from FOIA disclosure. DOL appealed that decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld the District Court’s decision in July, 2025.
The Ninth Circuit concluded that EEO-1 Reports are not confidential commercial information exempt from FOIA disclosure and remanded the case to the District Court for resolution. See our alert on this here.
The Latest Development
DOL/DOJ elected to not appeal the Ninth Circuit’s decision and as a result, and at the District Court’s direction, OFCCP has announced it will disclose the five years of government contractorEEO-1 Reports to CIR on February 25, 2026.
What Happens Next?
CIR will receive the EEO-1 Reports and use them as it wants. There is no restriction from the court regarding how CIR uses the EEO-1s or shares them publicly or with other entities. Employers should anticipate CIR will publish the EEO-1s online or otherwise make them available.
What Can Employers Do?
There is no further legal avenue for employers to appeal the Ninth Circuit’s decision or object to disclosure of the 2016-2020 EEO-1 Reports.
Employers may want to analyze the five years of EEO demographic data in the EEO-1s to determine what trends CIR or others may find. Employers that conduct such analyses can develop a communications strategy, to deploy either internally and externally, or both, to respond to possible adverse EEO trends claimed by CIR or other third-parties that analyze the EEO-1 data.
If your organization would like assistance to analyze your EEO-1 data to identify what CIR or others may find, or if you have questions regarding this development, please contact the Silberman Law legal professional with whom you work or simply reply to this Employer Alert.
