OPEA

OKLAHOMA CITY (March 29, 2010) – Today the Oklahoma Public Employees Association filed in District Court an injunction against the state of Oklahoma, seeking to protect state employees’ confidential information.

The injunction is a direct result of a batch request submittedby The Oklahoman to the state Office of Personnel Management. In the February19 request, the newspaper is seeking private information on all 40,000 state employees, including their dates of birth. Those employees include workers from Corrections, DHS, OSBI, the Highway Patrol, and every other state employee.

“The Oklahoman realizes they are losing this battle, so this weekend they took their fight to the front page of their paper,” said OPEA Executive Director Sterling Zearley. “We are standing up for our members, all state employees, as well as those employed by city and county municipalities.

“This is not just about fraud or identity theft anymore. It is about protecting our employees and their families. A person’s date of birth is the missing piece in the identity puzzle if someone is trying to commit fraud or harm an individual. OPEA is being scrutinized because we are standing in the way of The Oklahoman getting 40,000 private records,” Zearley said.

OPEA supports Senate Bill 1753, authored by Senator Debbe Leftwich, which keeps private a state employee’s date of birth. It passed the Senate unanimously, and is now in the House of Representatives.

“We believe in transparency of state government; but when it comes to protecting our state’s valuable workforce, we will not compromise nor will we step aside,” Zearley concluded.