EMPLOYER REFUSAL TO BARGAIN IN GOOD FAITH; REFUSAL TO PROVIDE INFORMATION – Confidentiality; Privacy

Single Topic for Decision 3034H

View all topics for Decision 3034H

Full Decision Text (click on the link to view): Full Text

An employer seeking to rely on the federal Privacy Act of 1974 (Privacy Act; 5 U.S.C. § 552a) must at minimum identify that statute or otherwise place the requesting union on notice of the asserted legal constraint. (pp. 13-14.) The Privacy Act’s central restriction provides that an agency or contractor may not disclose any record contained in a system of records without the prior written consent of the individual to whom the record pertains, unless a statutory exception applies. (5 U.S.C. § 552a(b).) The Privacy Act defines a “system of records” as “a group of any records under the control of any agency from which information is retrieved by the name of the individual or by some identifying number, symbol, or other identifying particular assigned to the individual.” (Id., § 552a(a)(5).) (pp. 21, 24.)