State Agency Test Results
Q: I am requesting the results of a test from a state agency. It appears the agency is declining my request not only for my results, but also to view the results of other candidates and also the decision process of the hiring manager.
A: Generally speaking, laws restricting access to records should not interfere with a person’s rights to review his or her own records. It is not clear whether you have submitted a request under the Public Records Act (PRA). If you have not, I suggest that you do. The PRA guarantees the public’s right to inspect and obtain copies of documents collected or maintained by state of local agencies. The PRA requires agencies to provide you with the documents requested, or notify you that your request has been denied, within 10 days. (Gov’t Code § 6253). If the written request is denied, the agency is obligated to back its denial by citing an exemption in the PRA or other state or federal law allowing it to withhold the records you seek. (Gov’t code § 6255). A sample PRA request letter can be found on the CFAC web site at the following link: http://www.cfac.org/templates/cpraletter.html.
With respect to records pertaining to the other candidates, such records might be exempt from disclosure under the PRA. The PRA exempts from disclosure “[p]ersonnel, medical, or similar files, the disclosure of which would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.” Gov’t Code § 6254(c). Courts have not been entirely consistent in determining what constitutes an “unwarranted invasion of personal privacy,” which is the standard required in order to justify withholding records under the privacy exemption. One court held that the kind of information that would be included in a resume, curriculum vitae or job application to demonstrate a person’s fitness, in terms of education, training or work experience, for a government job is not a matter of privacy. Eskaton Monterey Hospital v. Myers, 134 Cal. App. 3d 788 (1982). The Eskaton court reasoned that “information as to the education, training, experience, awards, previous positions and publications of the (employee) . . . is routinely presented in both professional and social settings, is relatively innocuous and implicates no applicable privacy or public policy exemption.” However, the rule with respect to resume-type of information applies ONLY to information about actual employees. It does not require the disclosure of government job applications, especially if the applicants have asked for, or applied upon assurances of, the confidential treatment normally accorded such processes. Thus, the agency appears to be within its rights to withhold documents pertaining to job applications for those applicants who were not hired, but it would likely be obligated to disclose this type of information with respect to the candidates that were hired. Thus, you may want to submit a PRA request for these records as well. This will then place the burden on the agency to either provide you access to those records, or cite the authority that allows it to withhold them.