Court Opinion

ID: 9428150
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:22:56.969428+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:23:12.072798
License: Public Domain

Justice Blacicmun,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
In my view, the proper standard for evaluating disclosures of information by the Equal Employment Opportunity Com*605mission (EEOC) was expressed by Senator Humphrey, the cosponsor of the bill that became Title VII. As the Court notes, ante, at 598-600, Senator Humphrey stated that the prohibitions against public disclosure in §§ 706 (b) and 709 (e) of Title VII, 42 U. S. C. §§ 2000e-5 (b) and 2000e-8 (e), do not forbid “such disclosure as is necessary to the carrying out of the Commission’s duties under the statute.” 110 Cong.’ Rec. 12723 (1964). I would adhere to this standard and require the Commission to justify any disclosure of its investigative files by demonstrating that the disclosure is “necessary to the carrying out of [its] duties.”* Because the Commission must communicate charges to respondents, investigate the charges that have been filed, determine whether there is reasonable cause to believe that the charges are true, inform the parties of its determination, and attempt to settle charges, see § 706 (b), there undoubtedly are many occasions when it must disclose some of its information to the parties and to witnesses. The Court of Appeals erred, therefore, when it held that no disclosure to parties and witnesses is permitted before a suit is filed.
The Commission, however, has not pointed to any provision *606of Title VII imposing a duty upon it to allow charging parties access to its records “for the purpose of reviewing information in the case file in connection with pending or contemplated litigation.” EEOC Compliance Manual § 83.3 (a). I do not find it necessary to resolve the disagreement between the Commission and respondent over whether the Commission’s prelitigation disclosure rules are a help or a hindrance to the effective enforcement of Title VII. I simply find no provision of the statute authorizing the Commission to assist charging parties who are trying to decide whether to file a suit.
The Court of Appeals held that the prelitigation disclosure rules are invalid. I would affirm that part of its judgment.

As the Coitrt notes, the agency adopted precisely this standard as a contemporaneous construction of the statute. Its first disclosure rules, issued in 1965, authorized disclosure to the charging party “as may be appropriate or necessary to the carrying out of the Commission’s function.” 30 Fed. Reg. 8409 (1965). This regulation remained unchanged until 1977, when it was amended to state a broader standard, although the agency disclaimed an intent to do so. See 42 Fed. Reg. 42024 (1977). Disclosure to a charging party, his or her attorney, and certain others is now permitted when it “is deemed necessary for securing appropriate relief.” 29 CFR § 1601.22 (1979). That this is a departure from the previous standard is clear, since the Commission retained the “necessary to the carrying out of the Commission’s function” language for disclosures of information to interested federal, state, or local authorities. Ibid.
The Regulations in the EEOC Compliance Manual which set forth thé agency’s prelitigation disclosure program were first adopted in 1975. They hardly can be called a contemporaneous construction of Title VII.