(1) (a) The information contained in the reports lawfully required to be furnished by the employer in section 8-1-114, other information furnished to the division by employers and employees in pursuance of this article 1, and information obtained through inspections or other proceedings under this article 1 that reveals a trade secret is for the exclusive use and information of the division in the discharge of its official duties. An employer may designate information submitted to the division as proprietary, a trade secret, or privileged information in accordance with section 24-72-204 (3), as long as the director is not bound by the employer's designation. The director may treat and file the information or any part of the information as confidential, and, when so treated or filed by the director, the information is confidential, for the sole use of the division, and not open to the public nor to be used in any court in any action or proceeding pending therein unless the division is a party to the action or proceeding. The court shall issue orders as appropriate to protect the confidentiality of trade secrets. The information contained in a report may be tabulated and published by the division in statistical form for the use and information of other state departments and the public.
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (1)(a) of this section, the division shall treat any notice of citation or notice of assessment issued to an employer for violation of a wage law, including a violation of section 8-4-111 (2)(c), after all remedies have been exhausted pursuant to section 84-111.5, as a public record and shall release the information to the public upon request pursuant to the "Colorado Open Records Act", part 2 of article 72 of title 24, unless the director makes a determination that the information is a trade secret. Before releasing any information relating to the violation of a wage law, the director shall notify the employer of the potential release of the information. The employer then has twenty days to provide the director with further documentation demonstrating that the information, or specific matters included in the information, is a trade secret. If the director, in the director's discretion, determines that the information, or any portion of the information, is a trade secret, the director shall treat the information as confidential under this subsection (1). For purposes of this subsection (1)(b), "trade secret" has the same meaning as set forth in section 7-74-102 (4).
Any person in the employ of the division who divulges any confidential informationto any person other than the director shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars and shall thereafter be disqualified from holding any appointment or employment with any department under the state.
Pursuant to this section, the director shall provide a physical environment and establish policies and procedures to ensure confidentiality for all information regarding any employer, employee, or person pertaining to any action pursuant to articles 1 to 13 of this title; except that such information may be released if there exists an overriding need for access to such information arising pursuant to articles 1 to 13 of this title in connection with:
(a) A dispute resolution, a mediation, or an administrative or judicial proceeding; or (b) A cooperative effort with another subdivision of government.
Source: L. 15: p. 573, § 19. L. 21: p. 835, § 6. C.L. § 4343. CSA: C. 97, § 21. CRS 53: § 80-1-19. C.R.S. 1963: § 80-1-19. L. 69: p. 580, § 33. L. 72: p. 604, § 103. L. 73: p. 919, § 5. L. 75: (1) amended, p. 275, § 3, effective July 25. L. 80: (1) amended, p. 449, § 2, effective April 13. L. 86: (2) amended, p. 466, § 10, effective July 1. L. 93: (3) added, p. 867, § 2, effective May 6. L. 2017: (1) amended, (HB 17-1021), ch. 126, p. 433, § 1, effective April 13.
Cross references: For the "Uniform Trade Secrets Act", see article 74 of title 7.