If Your Business Received a "Life-Sustaining Business" Waiver, Its Information May Now Be Disclosed

On November 6, 2020, the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records  (“OOR”) issued a Final Determination with regard to a Right-to-Know request.  OOR issues numerous Final Determinations a year, however, this one is important because it may impact hundreds of businesses in Lehigh and Northampton counties that received and/or applied for exemption waivers as part of the initial “essential business” closures in March of 2020.

The Right-to-Know request was initially sent by a local reporter to the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (“DCED”).  In response, the DCED provided a list of businesses which had been granted exemptions.  The reporter, however, was seeking all of the information contained in the waiver application.  This information would include the number of employees a company had, how the company met the definition of a “life-sustaining business”, how the business planned on meeting the CDC guidelines, and how many employees would be in the office or business location.

The DCED claimed that the information the reporter was requesting was confidential and proprietary for each individual business.  The OOR, however, disagreed and granted the reporter’s request.  As such, unless the matter is appealed by the DCED all information provided by a business in the waiver form will be disclosed pursuant to the request.

Businesses impacted by this decision have likely received an email notification that they have the ability to file a Petition for Reconsideration with the OOR within fifteen (15) days of the issuance of the Final Determination (November 21, 2020).  To the extent a business did, in fact, include confidential or proprietary information on its wavier application, it may wish to file such a Petition to preserve its rights and attempt to prevent any such a disclosure.

For questions about this or any other labor and employment law topic, please do not hesitate to contact the attorneys at Hoffman & Hlavac.  To stay updated on the key labor and employment law developments that affect your workplace, be sure to subscribe to our blog and follow us on social media.