[rahimnathwani]

"Under California Business and Professions Code 6086.1(b), all disciplinary investigations are confidential until the time that formal charges are filed, and all investigations are confidential until a formal proceeding is instituted."

Does this part of the code apply to everyone, or only the folks in charge of the investigations, or in charge of safeguarding the information?

If someone is in a bar and overhears a Bar employee talking loudly about an investigation, do they have a legal duty to keep what they heard confidential?

[chrismcb]

No. Once confidential information is leaked, it is no longer confidential. The person who leaked the data can be in trouble. But the person who received it isn't... Assuming they didn't break any laws receiving it. In your particular example, the Bar employee shouldn't have been talking about confidential stuff in public, where it can be overheard. There is no expectation of privacy in a bar, so the eavesdropper is most likely on the clear.