Core v. U.S. Postal Service, 83-1153

• Decision Date: 06 January 1984
• Docket Number: No. 83-1153,83-1153
• Parties: Harry L. CORE, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

Page 946

730 F.2d 946

Harry L. CORE, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE, Appellee.

No. 83-1153.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Argued Aug. 29, 1983.

Decided Jan. 6, 1984.

Bernard J. DiMuro, Alexandria, Va. (Charles M. Rust-Tierney, Hirschkop & Grad, P.C., Alexandria, Va., on brief), for appellant.

George E. Lawrence, Jr., Sp. Asst. U.S. Atty., Washington, D.C. (Elsie L. Munsell, U.S. Atty., Alexandria, Va., Charles D. Hawley, Asst. Gen. Counsel, Margaret

O'Connell, General Administrative Law Div., U.S. Postal Service, Washington, D.C., on brief), for appellee.

Before WINTER, Chief Judge, MURNAGHAN, Circuit Judge, and BUTZNER, Senior Circuit Judge.

BUTZNER, Senior Circuit Judge:

Harry L. Core appeals from the district court's order denying his request under the Freedom of Information Act for employment histories of applicants for federal employment. We conclude that the Act requires release of the requested information about the successful applicants, but 5 U.S.C. Sec. 552(b)(6) (exemption 6) precludes disclosure of the other applications.

I

In response to solicitations by the United States Postal Service, Core, a Service employee, submitted an application for one of eight Systems Architect positions. Upon inquiry about the status of his application, the Service notified Core that five of the eight Systems Architect positions had been filled, that the remaining three had been cancelled, and that he had not been among the final candidates for any of the positions.

Core, believing that the Service had violated hiring regulations, initiated a request for information about the education and automatic data processing experience of the five persons selected as Systems Architects and of all other applicants the Service deemed qualified for the position. The Service released information on the educational qualifications of those applicants, but it denied Core's request for information about experience gained through prior employment. Relying on exemption 6, the Service concluded that disclosure of this information would result in a clearly unwarranted invasion of privacy because it was inextricably interwoven with the textual summary of the applications and was so detailed that individual applicants could be identified even if their names were removed from the applications.

Core filed suit for disclosure. After hearing arguments on cross-motions for summary judgment and examining the disputed documents in camera, the district court concluded that release of the information would seriously invade the privacy of the applicants because it would reveal that they were considering leaving their present employment. According to the district court, disclosure could lead to embarrassing speculation about the applicants' reason for leaving their jobs and adversely affect their future employment or promotion. Additionally, the district court concluded that the detailed narrative information on the applicants' employment history, accomplishments, and self-evaluation is ordinarily submitted with the expectation that it will remain private. Finding no countervailing public interest in releasing the documents, the district court denied Core's request.

II

The Freedom of Information Act establishes a general policy of full disclosure unless the information requested is clearly exempted. Department of Air Force v. Rose, 425 U.S. 352, 361, 96 S.Ct. 1592, 1599, 48 L.Ed.2d 11 (1976). Exemption 6 excludes from the Act "personnel and medical files and similar files the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy." The purpose of exemption 6 is to protect individuals from the injury and embarrassment that can result from the unnecessary disclosure of personal information. Department of State v. Washington Post Co., 456 U.S. 595, 599, 102 S.Ct. 1957, 1959, 72 L.Ed.2d 358 (1982).

In Washington Post, the Court held that the term, "similar files," includes all files which contain information about a particular individual. 456 U.S. at 602, 102 S.Ct. at 1961. If the files fall within this definition, the remaining issue is whether disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. This determination requires "a balancing of interests between the protection of an individual's private affairs from unnecessary public scrutiny, and the preservation of the public's right to government information." S.Rep. No. 813, 89th Cong., 1st Sess. 9 (1965); see Rose, 425 U.S. at 370-82, 96 S.Ct. at 1603-08.

III

Core requested information that is contained in the applications submitted for the Systems Architect positions. These applications typically describe prior Postal or business employment, special assignments or projects, membership in any professional or civic organizations, awards and honors. If the applicant is presently an employee of the Service, the application includes supervisors' recommendations. ^* Because this information pertains to particular individuals, it clearly falls within the "similar files" definition of Washington Post, 456 U.S. at 602, 102 S.Ct. at 1961.

The next inquiry is whether the applicants' privacy interest outweighs the public interest in disclosure. To balance these interests we have examined the applications, and we agree with the district court that the information which Core seeks about the applicants' experience in automatic data processing is generally set forth in narrative summaries that disclose names of present and former employers, awards, commendations, and membership in professional organizations. We also agree that because the information Core seeks is not reasonably segregable from the narratives, the...