OPM sued for withholding workforce data

A data-gathering organization filed suit Monday against the Office of Personnel Management, claiming the agency illegally withheld records on more than 900,000 federal employees in 250 agencies.

The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse -- a Syracuse University-based organization that compiles data on federal staffing, spending and law enforcement -- claimed in its lawsuit that OPM violated the Freedom of Information Act by not disclosing requested information. TRAC sells the data it compiles, primarily to academic and media organizations.

TRAC said the problem arose in October 2004 when it asked OPM for the names and work locations of all federal employees for the second quarter of 2004. The organization said it had requested this information regularly since 1989, but this time OPM declined to provide it.

In response to the inquiry, Gary Lukowski, OPM's chief of the Workforce Information and Planning Group, told TRAC co-director Susan Long that OPM was "conducting a review of the policy on disclosure of individual employee records."

"Secret governors are incompatible with a free government," Long and fellow TRAC co-director David Burnham responded in a Feb. 2 letter to OPM. "Basic information about the employees who carry out the day-to-day actions of government is critical for meaningful public oversight."

TRAC said that on April 15, OPM finally released some of the requested details, but only for about 60 percent of employees. OPM excluded information about Defense Department, Environmental Protection Agency and Occupational Safety and Health Administration workers, among others.

OPM spokesman Mike Orenstein said Wednesday that the agency is aware of TRAC's lawsuit, but does not yet have any details.

"We understand that an action has been filed against OPM by TRAC, but we haven't yet seen it so we have no comment at this time," Orenstein said.

Government Executive reported in April 2004 that Defense Undersecretary for Personnel and Readiness David Chu had asked OPM to stop releasing names, addresses and related information about Defense employees.

OPM also began clearing requests for general statistics through Defense, a process that has caused backlogs and delays and slowed responses to Freedom of Information Act requests, an OPM official told Government Executive at the time.

The Pentagon said the policy was adopted to protect employees from terrorist attacks.

Congress first authorized a register of federal employee information in 1816. The first employee recorded was President James Madison.

TRAC filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, where Syracuse University is located. Attorney Adina Rosenbaum of Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization, is representing TRAC in the case.