Personnel Exemption

Also known as G. L. c. 4, § 7(26)(b) "Exemption (b)".

Thank you to Caitlin Russell for contributing to this entry. This guide is for informational purposes only, is general in nature, and is not legal opinion nor legal advice regarding any specific issue or factual circumstance.

This exemption allows agencies to withhold “internal personnel rules and practices of the government unit, provided however, that such records shall be withheld only to the extent that proper performance of necessary governmental functions requires such withholding.” This exemption is meant to protect agencies from being overwhelmed by gathering and producing information that the public cannot reasonably be expected to have an interest in, because it is related only to the internal functions of a government agency. The information may be withheld if its disclosure would impede the function and “proper performance” of the agency. The term “proper performance” makes the Massachusetts exemption more narrow than the federal FOIA, and is wide open for interpretation. You can expect agencies and their lawyers to take full advantage of this. Records custodians in Massachusetts are required to demonstrate how their government agency’s function and proper performance would be hindered by the release of the information requested, and while you can’t force them to be as specific as you’d like them to be, you can outline the level of specificity you expect in your request. If you’re still not satisfied with the response you receive, another course of action would be to request an in camera inspection of the requested documents by the Supervisor of Records.

Example Appeals

Your request was rejected based on the notion that any records related to personnel are exempt from disclosure under exemption b.

Exemption b is meant to shield government agencies from the burden of searching for and producing documents that cannot reasonably be said to be of interest to the public. Due to the subject's position as a public employee, I believe there is a legitimate and undeniable public interest in the production of the documents requested.
Exemption b further states that documents are to be withheld "only to the extent that proper performance of necessary governmental functions requires such withholding." If you are asserting that releasing information related to employee misconduct would impede the ability of your agency to function and perform properly, please explain in specific detail how this is so.
I believe that employee misconduct itself is likely to have a negative impact on on the agency's functionality and performance, and that holding the employee accountable publicly would ultimately have a positive effect on the agency's performance.

Proper Use

Withholding information that is of no value to the public and would impede the ability of a government agency to properly perform necessary governmental functions.

Improper Use

Issuing a blanket denial of any and all records related to the internal functions of a government agency. The records custodian is tasked with demonstrating that the records requested are related “solely to internal personnel rules and practices of the government unit.”

Key Citations

Air Force v. Rose, 425 U.S. 352, 362-70 (1976)

Globe Newspaper Co. v. Boston Retirement Bd., 388 Mass. 427, 432 (1983)