Ctr. for Investigative Reporting v. DOL (9th Cir.) -- affirming district court’s decision that Exemption 4 did not protect reports filed by certain contractors from 2016 to 2020 describing the composition of their workforces, including employee job categories and demographics; determining that the reports did not meet “plain meaning” of “commercial” information, which the Circuit held must be “made to be bought and sold or . . . describes an exchange of goods or services for profit”; rejecting district court’s reasoning that the reports were not “commercial” because they lacked “commercial value” and would not cause competitive harm if disclosed.
N.B. As the Circuit’s opinion noted, the federal government will no longer collect these “diversity” reports—at least not for the duration of the Trump Administration. See E.O. 14173, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” 90 Fed. Reg. 8633 (Jan. 31, 2025); see also 41 C.F.R. § 60–1.7(c), revocation proposed by Rescission of Executive Order 11246 Implementing Regulations, 90 Fed. Reg. 28472-01 (proposed July 1, 2025).
Summaries of all published opinions issued in 2025 are available here. Earlier opinions are available for 2024 and from 2015 to 2023.