FOIL-AO-14161

July 29, 2003

The staff of the Committee on Open Government is authorized to issue advisory opinions. The ensuing staff advisory opinion is based solely upon the facts presented in your correspondence.

Dear

I have received your letter and the material attached to it. You have sought an advisory opinion concerning a denial of your request for records by the Department of Correctional Services.

Your request is as follows:

"Copy of all records in former DCS employee Gail Hallerdin's Personal History File (including, but not limited to, performance evaluations) and her original employment Application or resume."

You added that the person who is the subject of the records served as a hearing officer and left her employment with the Department in 1999. The Department denied the request in its entirety, citing "Public Officers' Law 87 (2) (A) {Personal Privacy Protection Law} and (B)."

While I believe that some aspects of the records sought may properly be withheld, others must be disclosed. In this regard, I offer the following comments.

First, in ascertaining rights of access to the records sought, as well as the ability to deny access, the relationship between the Freedom of Information Law and the Personal Privacy Protection Law must be considered. The former pertains to rights of access conferred upon the general public and is based upon a presumption of access. Stated differently, all records of an agency are available, except to the extent that records or portions thereof fall within one or more grounds for denial appearing in §87(2)(a) through (i) of the Law. The Personal Privacy Protection Law deals with records maintained by state agencies that include or focus upon personal information pertaining to a "data subject." A "data subject" is "any natural person about whom personal information has been collected by an agency" [Personal Privacy Protection Law, §92(3)]. "Personal information" is defined to mean "any information concerning a data subject which, because of name, number, symbol, mark or other identifier, can be used to identify that data subject" [§92(7)]. For purposes of the Personal Privacy Protection Law, the term "record" is defined to mean "any item, collection or grouping of personal information about a data subject which is maintained and is retrievable by use of the name or other identifier of the data subject" [§92(9)].

To the extent that the records identify a data subject and a request is made for those records by a third party, such as yourself, §96(1) states that "No agency may disclose any record or personal information", except in conjunction with a series of exceptions that follow. One of those exceptions, §96(1)(c), involves a case in which a record is "subject to article six of this chapter [the Freedom of Information Law], unless disclosure of such information would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy as defined in paragraph (a) of subdivision two of section eighty-nine of this chapter". Section 89(2-a) of the Freedom of Information Law states that "Nothing in this article shall permit disclosure which constitutes an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy as defined in subdivision two of this section if such disclosure is prohibited under section ninety-six of this chapter". Consequently, if a state agency cannot disclose records pursuant to §96 of the Personal Protection Law, it is precluded from disclosing under the Freedom of Information Law; alternatively, if disclosure of a record would not constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy and if the record is available under the Freedom of Information Law, it may be disclosed under §96(1)(c).

In short, insofar as disclosure would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, I believe that the records sought would be exempt from disclosure via the operation of §96(1) of the Personal Privacy Protection Law. However, insofar as disclosure would result in a permissible invasion of personal privacy, the records must be disclosed, and I believe that there many aspects of personnel records that are accessible to the public.

Second, there is nothing in the Freedom of Information Law that deals specifically with personnel records or personnel files. The nature and content of so-called personnel files may differ from one agency to another and from one employee to another. Neither the characterization of documents as personnel records nor their placement in personnel files would necessarily render those documents confidential or deniable under the Freedom of Information Law (see Steinmetz v. Board of Education, East Moriches, Sup. Ct., Suffolk Cty., NYLJ, Oct. 30, 1980). On the contrary, the contents of those documents are the factors used in determining the extent to which they are available or deniable under the Freedom of Information Law.

Third, based on the judicial interpretation of the Freedom of Information Law, it is clear that public officers and employees enjoy a lesser degree of privacy than others, for it has been found in various contexts that those individuals are required to be more accountable than others. The courts have found that, as a general rule, records that are relevant to the performance of the official duties of those persons are available, for disclosure in such instances would result in a permissible rather than an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy [see e.g., Farrell v. Village Board of Trustees, 372 NYS 2d 905 (1975); Gannett Co. v. County of Monroe, 59 AD 2d 309 (1977), aff'd 45 NY 2d 954 (1978); Sinicropi v. County of Nassau, 76 AD 2d 838 (1980); Geneva Printing Co. and Donald C. Hadley v. Village of Lyons, Sup. Ct., Wayne Cty., March 25, 1981; Montes v. State, 406 NYS 2d 664 (Court of Claims, 1978); Powhida v. City of Albany, 147 AD 2d 236 (1989); Scaccia v. NYS Division of State Police, 530 NYS 2d 309, 138 AD 2d 50 (1988); Steinmetz v. Board of Education, East Moriches, Sup. Ct., Suffolk Cty., NYLJ, Oct. 30, 1980); Capital Newspapers v. Burns, 67 NY 2d 562 (1986)]. Conversely, to the extent that items are irrelevant to the performance of their official duties, it has been found that disclosure would indeed constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy [see e.g., Matter of Wool, Sup. Ct., Nassau Cty., NYLJ, Nov. 22, 1977, dealing with membership in a union; Minerva v. Village of Valley Stream, Sup. Ct., Nassau Cty., May 20, 1981, involving the back of a check payable to a municipal attorney that could indicate how that person spends his/her money; Selig v. Sielaff, 200 AD 2d 298 (1994), concerning disclosure of social security numbers].

There numerous instances in which portions of personnel records are available, while others are not. By means of example, items within a record indicating a public employee's gross pay would be accessible, but items involving charitable contributions, alimony, deductions and the like would be exempt; those latter items are unrelated to the performance of one's official duties. Attendance records indicating time in and out, days and dates of leave claimed have been found to be accessible (see Capital Newspapers, supra), but portions of those records indicating an employee's medical condition could be withheld.

Since you referred to an employment application, a judicial decision that focused that kind of record, Kwasnik v. City of New York (Supreme Court, New York County, September 26, 1997), the court quoted from and relied upon an opinion rendered by this office and held that portions of resumes must be disclosed in accordance with the previous commentary. The Committee's opinion stated that:

"If, for example, an individual must have certain types of experience, educational accomplishments or certifications as a condition precedent to serving in [a] particular position, those aspects of a resume or application would in my view be relevant to the performance of the official duties of not only the individual to whom the record pertains, but also the appointing agency or officers ... to the extent that records sought contain information pertaining to the requirements that must have been met to hold the position, they should be disclosed, for I believe that disclosure of those aspects of documents would result in a permissible rather than an unwarranted invasion [of] personal privacy. Disclosure represents the only means by which the public can be aware of whether the incumbent of the position has met the requisite criteria for serving in that position."

I note that Kwasnik was affirmed by the Appellate Division [691 NYS2d 525, 262 AD2d 171(1999)]. Based on that decision and others dealing involving analogous principles, those portions of a resume or employment application that are relevant to the performance of one's duties, including certification, must be disclosed. In addition, it has been held that those portions of records indicating one's general education background must be disclosed [Ruberti, Girvin and Ferlazzo v. NYS Division of State Police, 218 AD2d 494 (1996)].

Lastly, I believe that performance evaluations are accessible in part. In addition to consideration of the exception relating to personal privacy, also relevant with respect to those records, as well as others found within a personnel file, is §87(2)(g). That provision authorizes an agency to withhold records that:

"are inter-agency or intra-agency materials which are not:

i. statistical or factual tabulations or data;

ii. instructions to staff that affect the public;

iii. final agency policy or determinations; or

iv. external audits, including but not limited to audits performed by the comptroller and the federal government..."

It is noted that the language quoted above contains what in effect is a double negative. While inter- agency or intra-agency materials may be withheld, portions of such materials consisting of statistical or factual information, instructions to staff that affect the public, final agency policy or determinations or external audits must be made available, unless a different ground for denial could appropriately be asserted. Concurrently, those portions of inter-agency or intra-agency materials that are reflective of opinion, advice, recommendation and the like could in my view be withheld.

While their contents may differ, in my experience, a typical evaluation contains three components.

One involves a description of the duties to be performed by a person holding a particular position, or perhaps a series of criteria reflective of the duties or goals to be achieved by a person holding that position. Insofar as evaluations contain information analogous to that described, I believe that those portions would be available. In terms of privacy, a duties description or statement of goals would clearly be relevant to the performance of the official duties of the incumbent of the position. Further, that kind of information generally relates to the position and would pertain to any person who holds that position. As such, I believe that disclosure would result in a permissible rather than an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. In terms of §87(2)(g), a duties description or statement of goals would be reflective of the policy of an agency regarding the performance standards inherent in a position and, therefore, in my view, would be available under §87(2)(g)(iii). It might also be considered factual information available under §87(2)(g)(i).

The second component involves the reviewer's subjective analysis or opinion of how well or poorly the standards or duties have been carried out or the goals have been achieved. In my opinion, that aspect of an evaluation could be withheld, both as an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy and under §87(2)(g), on the ground that it constitutes an opinion concerning performance.

A third possible component, as in this instance, is often a final rating, i.e., "good", "excellent", "average", etc. Any such final rating would in my opinion be available, assuming that any appeals have been exhausted, for it would constitute a final agency determination available under §87(2)(g)(iii), particularly if a monetary award is based upon a rating. Moreover, a final rating concerning a public employee's performance is relevant to that person's official duties and therefore would not in my view result in an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy if disclosed.

In an effort to enhance compliance with and understanding of the Freedom of Information and Personal Privacy Protection Laws, copies of this opinion will be sent to Department officials.

I hope that I have been of assistance.

Sincerely,

Robert J. Freeman
Executive Director

RJF:tt

cc: Anthony J. Annucci
Daniel F. Martuscello, III