Page 12 of 12 – U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights
Discrimination Complaint Form, Consent Form, and Complaint Processing Procedures
information is permitted to be disclosed under both FOIA and the Privacy Act and OCR
determines disclosure would further an interest of the Department and the United States.
However, OCR can release certain information about your complaint to the press or general
public, including the name of the school or institution; the date your complaint was filed;
the type of discrimination included in your complaint; the date your complaint was
resolved, dismissed or closed; the basic reasons for OCR’s decision; or other related
information. Any information OCR releases to the press or general public will not include
your name or the name of the person on whose behalf you filed the complaint except as
noted in the paragraph above.
FOIA gives the public the right of access to records and files of Federal agencies. Individuals
may obtain items from many categories of records of the Federal government, not just
materials that apply to them personally. OCR must honor requests for records under FOIA,
with some exceptions. Generally, OCR is not required to release documents during the case
evaluation and investigation process or enforcement proceedings, if the release could
reasonably be expected to interfere with the affect the ability of OCR to do its job. 5 U.S.C. §
552(b)(7)(A). Also, a Federal agency may refuse a request for records if their release would
or could reasonably be expected to result in an unwarranted invasion of privacy of an
individual. 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(6) and (7)(C). Also, a request for other records, such as medical
records, may be denied where disclosure would be a clearly unwarranted invasion of
privacy.