The content of pleadings, including the attachments to pleadings, is restricted by Rule 60Q6.103(2). The Rule is clear, "no pleading shall contain information exempt from public records disclosure."
The full text of the Rule is
The full text of the Rule is
60Q-6.103 Pleadings and Proposed Orders.
(2) Exempt information. Except for the employee’s social security number or equivalent on petitions for benefits and responses thereto, no pleading shall contain information exempt from public records disclosure. Exempt information shall be supplied in connection with a pleading only to the extent it is necessary for the judge’s determination of disputed matters or required by Florida Statutes and shall be appended to a pleading in a separate document conspicuously marked “Exempt Information.”
A regular scenario for the Office of Judges of Compensation Claims goes like this. A party to a case requests or subpoenas medical records. They are organized (and sometimes not organized, but that is another topic) and attached to a Motion to Admit Medical Records. Opposing counsel does not object to the motion or ask that the records be redacted as a condition for admission. The motion is granted, the records admitted, and the case goes to trial. The same result can be accomplished, of course, by attaching the records to a deposition of a doctor, employer, adjuster, or custodian. The same result, regardless of whether they are medical, employment, past employment, or similar records.
What is "exempt information" under this rule? Perhaps the Rule should specifically define that term for us. Hopefully that detail in a procedural rule is not necessary. A quick Google search led me to the parameters of exempt this morning. The short answer?
Social Security Numbers.
Driver's License Numbers.
The longer answer is provided by a detailed document on the State of Florida's website. The Social Security Number (SSN) specifically presents problems for the people to whom they refer. Regarding SSNs, the State of Florida notes "The disclosure of such number can provide access to private information about a person which could be used to perpetrate fraud upon that person or otherwise cause great harm to that person and his or her family." Regarding Driver's License Numbers, the State notes these are exempt by "state and federal statutes." There are of course exceptions. The reason is apparent, these numbers could be a key to unlock other information.
The State cautions in this same document that "redact" has a specific statutory meaning, "to conceal from a copy of an original public record, or to conceal from an electronic image that is available for public viewing, that portion of the record containing exempt or confidential information." This specifically means that the copy, not the original is altered. The result, not the intent, is critical. The document recites an instance in which the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) tried to use software for this purpose, but what they intended to have obscured/redacted was instead highlighted.
How to redact the document? In all instances, the first step is to make a copy and then work to redact the copy. Always maintain the original. To avoid wasting paper, the copy can always be a portable document format (PDF). If the documents arrive in paper form, scan them. If they arrive in PDF form, that is digital, save the original and make a copy.
I have seen the "text box" tool in Adobe used. Other portable document format (PDF) programs have similar functions. This is a big mistake. The text boxes can be moved aside in the PDF. Even if you "save" the copy as a PDF again, the text you are trying to protect will remain. Learn from the TSA's hard lesson in redacting, and see instructions on how to properly redact a PDF document, and How to Redact a PDF File.
Before you e-file a document with the OJCC, the exempt information should be redacted. At a minimum, this would be the Social Security Number and Driver's License Number. Unless it is relevant to the case, information such as credit card numbers (perhaps used by the patient for their copay at an office visit) or date of birth could also be redacted to protect privacy and prevent opportunities for identity theft.
When a case is appealed, the record will have to be reviewed for such information. This review will delay the preparation of your record and may add to the cost. Adoption of procedures to avoid filing documents that include such exempt information is required by the Rules, is professional, and is in the interest of the people to whom those records refer.
