Open Records Decision No. 245
July 11, 1980

	Re:  Whether the terms of settlement agreement on an equal employment claim 
are public under the Open Records Act.

Mr. Alex Huddleston
Attorney at Law
Skaggs & Koppel Building
P. O. Box 2999
Harlingen, Texas  78550

Dear Mr. Huddleston:

	As attorney for the City of Rio Hondo you have requested our decision as to 
whether the terms of a settlement agreement on an equal employment claim are available 
to the public under the Open Records Act, article 6252-17a, V.T.C.S.

	You explain that an employee of the City of Rio Hondo filed a complaint with the 
Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.  The complaint was compromised 
on the basis of terms contained in a written “settlement agreement.”  You have received a 
request for a copy of this agreement.  You contend that it is excepted from disclosure by 
sections 3(a)(1), 3(a)(2) and 3(a)(3) of the Open Records Act.

	Section 3(a)(1) excepts “information deemed confidential by law, either 
Constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision.”  Specifically, 42 U.S.C. section 2000e-
5(b) provides, in pertinent part:

. . . Nothing said or done during and as a part of such informal 
endeavors may be made public by the Commission, its officers or 
employees, or used as evidence in a subsequent proceeding without 
the written consent of the persons concerned.  Any person who 
makes public information in violation of this subsection shall be 
fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned for not more than one 
year, or both.

Section 2000e-7 provides:

Nothing in this subchapter shall be deemed to exempt or relieve any 
person from any liability, duty, penalty, or punishment provided by 
any present or future law of any State or political subdivision of a 
State, other than any such law which purports to require or permit 
the doing of any act which would be an unlawful employment 
practice under this subchapter.

This office has previously held that the non-disclosure provisions of section 2000e-5(b) 
apply only to agents or employees of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.  
Open Records Decision Nos. 59 (1974); 155 (1977).  As a result, the settlement 
agreement is not excepted from disclosure by section 3(a)(1).

	Neither do we believe the agreement is excepted by section 3(a)(2), as 
“information in personnel files, the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly 
unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. . . .”  In our opinion, there is no portion of the 
settlement agreement the disclosure of which could reasonably be said to effect a clearly 
unwarranted invasion of the complainant's personal privacy.  See Open Records Decision 
No. 230 (1979).  We conclude therefore that the information is not excepted from 
disclosure by section 3(a)(2).

	You also contend that the settlement agreement is excepted from disclosure by 
section 3(a)(3), as “information relating to litigation . . . settlement negotiations, to which 
the . . . political subdivision is, or may be, a party. . . .”  In Open Records Decision No. 
114 (1975), this office said that

[w]hile section 3(a)(3) excepts from required public disclosure 
information relating to 'settlement negotiations,' we do not believe 
that the exception extends so far as to except the final terms of the 
settlement.

See V.T.C.S., article 6252-17a, sections 6(a)(1), 6(a)(3); Open Records Decision No. 139 
(1976).  Accordingly, it is our view that the terms of a settlement agreement on an equal 
employment claim are not excepted from disclosure by sections 3(a)(1), 3(a)(2) or 
3(a)(3) of the Open Records Act, and as a result, should be disclosed.

Very truly yours,

Mark White
Attorney General of Texas

John W. Fainter, Jr.
First Assistant Attorney General

Ted L. Hartley
Executive Assistant Attorney General

Prepared by Rick Gilpin
Assistant Attorney General

APPROVED:
OPINION COMMITTEE

C. Robert Heath, Chairman
Jon Bible
Susan Garrison
Rick Gilpin
Ann Kraatz
Bruce Youngblood