*735*534On Dеcember 21, 2016, plaintiff and appellant Associated Chino Teachers (ACT) filed a verified petition for writ of mandate, seeking to prevent defendant and respondent Chino Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) from releasing two documents relating to the results of an investigation into a public high school teacher's (Doe) actions as a girls' volleyball coach. Doe's actions did not result in any type of discipline or adverse action from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC). The trial court denied the petition. ACT appeals contending the disclosure of these documents is not authorized under the California Public Records Act. (CPRA; Gov. Code, § 6250, et seq. )
We conclude the CPRA does not require the production of the documents because Doe's privacy interests outweigh the public interest in their disclosure. We therefore do not address ACT's alternative argument. We reverse the judgment and remand the matter to the trial court to enter a new order granting the petition.
I. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND AND FACTS
ACT is the employee organization that serves as the exclusive representative for CVUSD's teachers. Doe is a high school teacher in CVUSD and a *535member of ACT. During their
CVUSD investigated the allegations against Doe and provided complainants with a written disposition of their complaints (dated Oct. 21 & Nov. 21, 2016, collectively disposition letters). Doe received a letter of warning (dated Nov. 4, 2016) and a letter of concern (dated Dec. 1, 2016), which were placed in their official personnel file. The disposition letters were not placed in Doe's official personnel file. Doe resigned from the coaching position in November 2016.
On or about November 14, 2016, Beau Yarbrough, a staff writer for the Southern California News Group and a contributor to the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, requested (1) Doe's "current job assignment and current salary," (2) "information regarding additional compensation or benefits for coaches at [CVUSD] and the length of coaching assignments," (3) "a copy of all complaints made against [Doe] in [their] career with [CVUSD]" and (4) "any documents relating to the status or resolution of those complaints." Yarbrough later narrowed his request to records that demonstrated the results of CVUSD's investigation. After determining that the complaints against Doe were substantial in nature and well founded, CVUSD informed Doe of its intent to disclose the disposition letters, while providing them an opportunity to contest such disclosure pursuant to the holding in Marken v. Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School Dist. (2012)
*536On December 21, 2016, ACT filed a verified petition for writ of mandate seeking to prevent disclosure of the disposition letters. On December 22, 2016, ACT successfully moved ex parte for a temporary restraining order (TRO) and order to show cause for a preliminary injunction, enjoining CVUSD from disclosing Doe's personnel records during the pendency of the action, and the trial court sealed the relevant documents. Subsequently, the parties stipulated that the prеliminary injunction would be in effect pending further order of the court following the hearing on the petition for writ of mandate.
On February 21, 2017, the trial court denied the petition for writ of mandate without providing substantive reasoning or analysis in support of its ruling. Judgment was entered on April 5, 2017, and CVUSD filed a notice of entry of judgment on April 12, 2017.
II. DISCUSSION
A. Standard of Review.
Generally, "[a]n appellate court's role in the CPRA process is to 'conduct an independent review of the trial court's ruling; factual findings made by the trial court will be upheld if bаsed on substantial evidence. [Citation.]' " ( Wilder v. Superior Court (1998)
B. The CPRA.
"The California Constitution guarantees both the individual's right of privacy *737[citations] and the public's 'right of access to information concerning the public's business' [citation], including 'the writings of public officials and agencies.' [Citations.] With respect to the latter right, the Supreme Court has observed, 'Openness in government is essential to the functioning of a democracy. "Implicit in the democratic process is the notion that government should be accountable for its actions. In order to verify accountability, individuals must have access to government files. Such access permits checks against the arbitrary exercise of official power and secrecy in the political process." ' [Citation.]
"In the CPRA the Legislature has sought to reconcile these two fundamental, but sometimes conflicting, conditional rights. While 'mindful of *537the right of individuals to privacy' [citation], the Legislature has declared 'access to information concerning the conduct of the people's business is a fundamental and necessary right of every person in this state.' [Citation.] Thus, the CPRA generally provides 'every person has a right to inspect any public record ...' [citation], '[e]xcept with respect to public records exempt from disclosure by express provisions of law ....' [Citation.] Section 6254, in turn, lists 29 categories of documents exempt from the requirement of public disclosure, many of which are designed to protect individual privacy, including, 'Personnel, medical, or similar files, the disclosure of which would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.' [Citations.] Section 6255, subdivision (a), also permits a public agency to withhold other records if it can demonstrate 'on the facts of the particular case the public interest served by not disclosing the record clearly outweighs the public interest served by disclosure of the record.'
"These statutory exemptions from mandatory disclosure under the CPRA must be narrowly construed. [Citations.] Moreover, the exemptions from disclosure provided by section 6254 are permissive, not mandatory: They allow nondisclosure but do not prohibit disclosure. [Citations.] Indeed, the рenultimate sentence of section 6254 provides, 'Nothing in this section prevents any agency from opening its records concerning the administration of the agency to public inspection, unless disclosure is otherwise prohibited by law.' [Citation.]" ( Marken , supra , 202 Cal.App.4th at pp. 1261-1262,
C. The Appeal Is Not Moot Because the Right to Assert Exemption Under the CPRA Has Not Been Forfeited.
Because the disposition letters were disclosed to complainants, CVUSD contends that they are public records, and the appeal therefore is moot. ( Black Panther Party v. Kehoe (1974)
In BRV , a school district received complaints that its superintendent had sexually harassed and verbally abused students. ( *738BRV , supra ,
Meanwhile, the superintendent resigned on certain conditions, including the district's agreement not to release any documents in the superintendent's personnel file absent any consent or unless required by law. ( BRV , supra ,
This case shares some factual similarities with BRV . Here, the relevant documents were provided to the complainants; however, thеy were not provided to a newspaper. Given the similarity of this case to BRV , we agree with the BRV court's approach of weighing the competing interests before ordering disclosure of the documents. We therefore conclude that the right to assert confidentiality is not forfeited even though the information contained in the disposition letters is the same as or like the information available elsewhere in the public domain. ( BRV , supra , 143 Cal.App.4th at pp. 748-749,
D. The Documents are Exempt from Disclosure.
ACT contends the trial court erred in finding that the disposition letters were not exempt from disclosure under the CPRA. It argues that Doe's *539privacy interest outweighs any interest the public may have in viewing the insubstantial allegations and findings pertaining to Doe's actions in their former position as a high school girls' volleyball coach. We agree.
Public records are exempt from disclosure if they (1) are "[p]ersonnel, ... or similar files, the disclosure of which would constitute an unwarranted invasion *739of personal privacy" (§ 6254, subd. (c) ) or (2) fit within a catch-all exemption where "the facts of the particular case" demonstrate that "the public interest served by not disclosing the record clearly outweighs the public interest served by disclosure of the record" (§ 6255, subd. (a) ). "Courts apply a three-step analysis in determining whether [either of these exemptions] applies. As a threshold matter, the court must determine whether the records sought constitute a personnel file, ... or other similar file. If so, the court must determine whether disclosure of the information would 'compromise substantial privacy interests; if privacy interests in given information are de minimis disclosure would not amount to a "clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy" .... Lastly, the court must determine whether the potential harm tо privacy interests from disclosure outweighs the public interest in disclosure. [Citations.]' " ( Versaci v. Superior Court (2005)
1. The Disposition Letters Constitute Personnel or Other Similar Records.
The parties disagree on whether the disposition letters qualify as personnel or other similar records exempt from disclosure. We conclude that they qualify аs personnel or other similar records.
The disposition letters contain personal information that applies specifically to Doe. [REDACTED] Because they include personal information about Doe to which access is limited to the employee's supervisors, they qualify as personnel records. The scope of personnel records generally covers records "relating to the employee's performance or to any grievance cоncerning the employee." ( Lab. Code, § 1198.5, subd. (a) ; see also Ed. Code, § 44031, subd. (a) [extending Lab. Code, § 1198.5 to Cal. teachers].)
We reject CVUSD's claim that "the records indicate they do not contain information pertaining to 'confidential personnel matters.' " [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Because the letters contain information about Doe that is subject to privacy issues (investigation into allegations of misconduct), they also qualify *540as other similar files. The term "similar files" has been interpreted to "have a broad, rather than a narrow, meaning." ( Department of State v. Washington Post Co . (1982)
Notwithstanding the above, CVUSD finds it significant that the letters "were not placed in [Doe's] personnel file," and argues that because they "were specifically *740prepared for disclosure to members of the public," the letters do not qualify as personnel or similar files. We are not persuaded by the argument. Regarding the failure to include the letters in Doe's рersonnel file, there are rational reasons for not including them. However, the letters do not lose the protection of section 6254, subdivision (c), merely because they are stored by CVUSD in a location other than personnel files. ( City of San Jose v. Superior Court (2017)
Likewise, the fact that the letters were addressed to the complainants does not necessarily mean they are foreclosed from constituting personnel or other similar records. Rather, the very nature of the complaints mandated confidential treatment and communication. Thus, after the investigation was completed, it was logical for CVUSD to provide complainants with responses to their complaints via written reports, namely the disposition letters. These letters were addressed only to the relevant parties, specifically each complainant, and CVUSD only provided each complainant with information regarding its investigation into their allegations concerning their own child. Everything was handled confidentially.
*541[REDACTED]
Contrary to CVUSD's contention, the evidence demonstrates that the letters constitute personnel or other similar records. In short, the disposition letters are part of Doe's personnel file or other similar file for purposes of evaluating the privacy balancing of section 6254, subdivision (c).
2. Disclosure of the Disposition Letters Would Compromise Substantial Privacy Interests.
The CPRA recognizes the right of privacy in one's personnel files by the exemption in section 6254, subdivision (c). ( BRV , supra , 143 Cal.App.4th at pp. 756-757,
3. The Potential Harm to Privacy Interests Outweighs the Public Interest in Disclosure.
There is an "inherent tension between the public's right to know and thе society's interest in protecting private citizens (including public servants) from unwarranted invasions of privacy. [Citation.] One way to resolve this tension is to try to determine 'the extent to which disclosure of the requested item of information will shed light on the public agency's performance of its duty.' " ( Los Angeles Unified School Dist. v. Superior Court (2014)
"In Chronicle Pub. Co. v. Superior Court (1960)
The rule in Chronicle Pub. Co. v. Superior Court (1960)
Moreover, because CVUSD handled the investigation into the complaints internally, they werе not egregious enough to warrant the retention of an outside party to independently conduct the investigation. (See BRV , supra ,
Based on the above, we conclude that Doe's privacy interest in the disposition letters outweighs the public's minimal interest in the matter. The letters therefore are exempt from disclosure under section 6254, subdivision (c).
Because of our conclusion, we need not address ACT's remaining argument.
*544III. DISPOSITION
The judgment is reversed. On remand, the trial court shall enter a new order granting ACT's petition for writ of mandate. ACT is awarded costs on appeal.
We concur:
CODRINGTON, J.
FIELDS, J.
Notes
Statutory references are to the Government Code unless otherwise indicated.
In order to protect the identity of Doe, we will use the gender-neutral pronoun "they." (See American University, The Center for Diversity & Inclusion, Office of Campus Life, Pronouns: A Guide for the American University Community at < https://www.american.edu/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile & pageid=4045420> [as of Nov. 29, 2018] ["When using 'they' as a singular gender inclusive pronoun, you would still conjugate associated verbs as you would for the plural version, as in 'they are an activist' or 'they like to go shopping', not 'they is an activist' or 'they likes to go shopping.' "].)
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