7.5(zz)

How the Public Access Counselor has treated 7.5(zz)

Section 7.5(zz) of FOIA incorporates confidentiality protections from another statute, covering information whose disclosure is prohibited under the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act. In these matters, that involved identifying information about employees in bargaining unit positions, such as names, job titles, work contact information, and other personal details like ages and hire dates, as well as lists of employees in covered classifications like motor truck drivers or home care workers.

The PAC has applied the exemption to sustain denials of such requests. It concluded the City of Berwyn did not violate FOIA by denying names, titles and work contact information for employees covered by a union agreement, that no further action was warranted on the Department of Human Services' denial of home care worker details, and that the Chicago Department of Human Resources did not violate FOIA by withholding motor truck driver lists.

At a glance: 3 documents from 2022(1 binding opinion, 2 determination letters).

Recurring issues

• Whether names, job titles, and work contact information for employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement can be withheld. (A city's list of union-represented employees)
• Whether personal details about home care workers, including names, ages, and hire dates, can be withheld. (Personal information of state home care workers)
• Whether lists of employees in a specific covered classification such as motor truck drivers can be withheld. (Citywide truck driver employee lists)
• Whether a denial of bargaining-unit employee identifying information was properly based on the Labor Relations Act prohibition through Section 7.5(zz). (A city's list of union-represented employees, Personal information of state home care workers, Citywide truck driver employee lists)

Practical points

• A public body responding to a request for bargaining-unit employee identities in these decisions cited Section 7.5(zz) and the Labor Relations Act prohibition.
• A requester seeking employee names, titles, contact details, or classification lists can review whether the employees are in positions covered by the Labor Relations Act prohibition referenced in Section 7.5(zz).

Summary drafted from the linked decisions and checked against them; read the decisions themselves before relying on it. Not legal advice.