Opinion ID: 515713
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Exemption (7)(C)

Text: 10 Exemption (7)(C) exempts records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes, but only to the extent that the production of such law enforcement records or information ... could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. 5 U.S.C. Sec. 552(b)(7)(C). We need not dwell on whether the special committee's report is information compiled for law enforcement purposes. The Post concedes that it is. But we find that none of the privacy interests encompassed by (7)(C) would be implicated by disclosure of the special committee's report. 11 The disclosures with which the statute is concerned are those of an intimate personal nature such as marital status, legitimacy of children, identity of fathers of children, medical condition, welfare payments, alcoholic consumption, family fights, and reputation. Sims v. CIA, 642 F.2d 562, 574 (D.C.Cir.1980). Information relating to business judgments and relationships does not qualify for exemption. See id. at 575. This is so even if disclosure might tarnish someone's professional reputation. See Cohen v. EPA, 575 F.Supp. 425, 429 (D.D.C.1983). The report that the Post seeks here would not reveal anything of a private nature about any employees mentioned, as it is an investigation and assessment of the business decisions of Lilly employees during the development and marketing of a commercial product. It may be that such a report, if it accused individual employees of having committed a crime, would implicate the privacy interest of personal honor. But there is no reason to assume that this report accuses anyone of breaking the law and the government does not so allege. 12 Nonetheless, it is true that the protection accorded reputation would generally shield material when disclosure would show that an individual was the target of a law enforcement investigation. See Fund for Constitutional Government v. National Archives, 656 F.2d 856, 866 (D.C.Cir.1981). The report in question does not, however, in itself identify any particular employees as targets of the Department's investigation. Since the report was prepared by Lilly for its own business purposes, the inclusion of a name in the special committee's report does not divulge whether the individual was a target of any law enforcement investigation or even whether the individual was considered, by law enforcement personnel, to have any relevance to their inquiry.