{
 "topic": "FOIA section 7(1)(n) - Employee grievance/discipline adjudication records",
 "statute": "5 ILCS 140/7(1)(n)",
 "family": "FOIA exemptions (section 7)",
 "page": "https://illinoisfoia.org/issues/foia-7-1-n/",
 "note": "Determination letters are non-binding. Verify against the source PDF before citing.",
 "counts": {
  "violation_found": 3,
  "no_violation": 1,
  "no_determination": 0,
  "other": 0
 },
 "challenge_notes": null,
 "issues": [
  {
   "issue": "Withholding emails as related to employee grievance under 7(1)(n)",
   "outcome": "violation_found",
   "rule": "The phrase 'relating to' in section 7(1)(n) must be read narrowly; communications that precede and exist independently of a grievance are not exempt.",
   "decision": {
    "title": "Emails about a school employee's compensation",
    "date": "2024-06-21",
    "binding": false,
    "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-77963/"
   },
   "authorities": [
    {
     "text": "Peoria Journal Star v. City of Peoria, 2016 IL App (3d) 140838, ¶ 13",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/cases/2016%20IL%20App%20(3d)%20140838/"
    },
    {
     "text": "Peoria Journal Star v. City of Peoria, 2016 IL App (3d) 140838, ¶ 16",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/cases/2016%20IL%20App%20(3d)%20140838/"
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "issue": "Withholding grievance investigation records under 7(1)(n)",
   "outcome": "violation_found",
   "rule": "Section 7(1)(n) exempts only records of formalized adjudications, not records of investigations that precede any disciplinary adjudication.",
   "decision": {
    "title": "Records on a student's medical homebound instruction grievance",
    "date": "2022-12-22",
    "binding": false,
    "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-73794/"
   },
   "authorities": [
    {
     "text": "Southern Illinoisan v. Illinois Department of Public Health, 218 Ill. 2d 390, 415 (2006)",
     "url": null
    },
    {
     "text": "Lieber v. Board of Trustees of Southern Illinois University, 176 Ill. 2d 401, 407 (1997)",
     "url": null
    },
    {
     "text": "Kalven v. City of Chicago, 2014 IL App (1st) 121846, ¶ 13, 7 N.E.3d 741, 745 (2014)",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/cases/2014%20IL%20App%20(1st)%20121846/"
    },
    {
     "text": "Peoria Journal Star v. City of Peoria, 2016 IL App (3d) 140838, ¶¶ 14-16, 52 N.E.3d 711, 714 (2016)",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/cases/2016%20IL%20App%20(3d)%20140838/"
    },
    {
     "text": "Ill. Att'y Gen. Pub. Acc. Op. No. 21-010, at 7-8, issued October 12, 2021",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/2021-pac-c-0067/"
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "issue": "Withholding investigation records under section 7(1)(n)",
   "outcome": "violation_found",
   "rule": "Section 7(1)(n) exempts only records of a formalized adjudication, not records of a preliminary investigation that precedes any adjudication.",
   "decision": {
    "title": "Complaints and investigatory findings about a public employee",
    "date": "2022-06-08",
    "binding": false,
    "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-69508/"
   },
   "authorities": [
    {
     "text": "Kalven v. City of Chicago, 2014 IL App (1st) 121846, 7 N.E.3d 741 (2014)",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/cases/2014%20IL%20App%20(1st)%20121846/"
    },
    {
     "text": "Ill. Att'y Gen. Pub. Acc. Op. No. 13-011",
     "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/2013-pac-23559/"
    }
   ]
  },
  {
   "issue": "Withholding of termination and reinstatement records under section 7(1)(n)",
   "outcome": "no_violation",
   "rule": "Records relating to a public body's adjudication of employee grievances or disciplinary cases are exempt, but the exemption does not extend to the final outcome of cases in which discipline is imposed.",
   "decision": {
    "title": "Employment, termination, and reinstatement records for a university employee",
    "date": "2016-04-08",
    "binding": false,
    "url": "https://illinoisfoia.org/opinions/letter-40002/"
   },
   "authorities": [
    {
     "text": "Lieber v. Board of Trustees of Southern Illinois Univ., 176 Ill. 2d 401, 408 (1997)",
     "url": null
    }
   ]
  }
 ]
}