NMSA 50-9-21. Civil actions; admissibility as evidence; confidentiality of
AI-assisted research summary: The section makes certain investigation and inspection information confidential, allows limited disclosure, and bars agency employees from revealing employers’ trade secrets except in narrow court-order situations.
50-9-21. Civil actions; admissibility as evidence; confidentiality of trade secrets. A. Nothing in the Occupational Health and Safety Act shall be construed or held to supersede or in any manner affect the Workers' Compensation Act [Chapter 52, Article 1 NMSA 1978] or the New Mexico Occupational Disease Disablement Law [52-3-1 NMSA 1978] or to enlarge or diminish or affect in any other manner the common law or statutory rights, duties or liabilities of employers and employees under the laws of this state with respect to injuries, occupational or other diseases or death of employees arising out of or in the course of employment. B. Statements, reports and information obtained or received by the department in connection with an investigation under or the administration or enforcement of the provisions of the Occupational Health and Safety Act shall be made available except to the extent privileged by law. Information obtained under the provisions of Subsection B of Section 50-9-6 NMSA 1978 shall remain confidential. The information may be used for statistical purposes if the information revealed is not identified as applicable to any individual employer. C. All information reported to or otherwise obtained by the secretary or the secretary's authorized representative in connection with any inspection or proceeding under this section which contains or might reveal a trade secret, as defined in Paragraph (2) of this subsection, shall be considered confidential, except that such information may be disclosed to other officers or employees concerned with carrying out the Occupational Health and Safety Act. In any such proceeding, the secretary, the secretary's authorized representative or a court of competent jurisdiction, as the case may be, shall issue such orders as may be appropriate to protect the confidentiality of trade secrets. (1) It is unlawful for any employee of the agency to reveal to any individual other than another employee of the department the trade secrets of any employer except in response to an order of a district court, the court of appeals, the supreme court or a federal court in an action to which the state is a party and in which the information sought is material to the inquiry. (2) For the purposes of this subsection, "trade secrets" means the whole or any portion or phrase of any scientific or technical information, design, process, procedure, formula or improvement which is secret and of value. A trade secret shall be presumed to be secret when the owner takes measures to prevent it from becoming available to persons other than those selected by the owner to have access for limited purposes. History: 1953 Comp., § 59-14-20, enacted by Laws 1972, ch. 63, § 20; 1975, ch. 290, § 13; 1983, ch. 49, § 2; 1984, ch. 80, § 2; 1993, ch. 322, § 19.