OPEA

Oklahoma County District Judge Bryan Dixon ruled in favor of the Oklahoma Public Employees Association giving state agencies the sole authority in determining whether or not releasing birth dates would be an unwarranted invasion of privacy.

OPEA sued the state to prevent the release of seven pieces of information including state employee birth dates after The Oklahoman and Tulsa World filed open records requests.

“The ruling today by Judge Dixon is a victory for OPEA and our members in keeping public employees personal information private,” said OPEA executive director Sterling Zearley. “OPEA will ask the Supreme Court to review the decision as we believe the ruling may violate equal protection clause.”

In his ruling Judge Dixon left the authority for the release solely in the hands of the agency stating, “the agencies shall make the determination of whether this is an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy of the employee without notice and hearing to the employee.”

“OPEA believes the employee has a right to be notified, object and have full due process before an agency releases this type of information,” said Zearley. “Otherwise the state will be treating employees differently agency to agency. This clearly is not an ideal situation and one we will be seeking clarification on from the Supreme Court.”

“We are pleased with the ruling in that it has shut the door in the face of the media, who are attempting to exploit state employees’ information to embarrass, humiliate and create sensational stories in their attempt to sell papers,” Zearley continued. “The Association has shown the power of state employees when we unite to defend our rights to perform our jobs for the citizens of the state without having to worry about our safety.”