United States Department of Defense, et al. v. Federal Labor Relations Authority et al. (510 U.S. 487)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided February 23, 1994 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 510 U.S. 487 · 114 S. Ct. 1006
- Decided
- February 23, 1994
- Term
- October Term 1993
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Thomas
- Issue area
- Privacy
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court. This case requires us to consider whether disclosure of the home addresses of federal civil service employees by their employing agency pursuant to a request made by the employees’ collective-bargaining representative under the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute, 5 U. S. C. §§7101-7135 (1988 ed. and Supp. IV), would constitute a “clearly unwarranted invasion” of the employees’ personal privacy within the meaning of the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U. S. C. § 552. Concluding that it would, we reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals. I The controversy underlying this case arose when two local unions requested the petitioner federal agencies to provide them with the names and home addresses of the agency employees in the bargaining units represented by the unions. The agencies supplied the unions with the employees’ names and work stations, but refused to release home addresses. In response, the unions filed unfair labor practice charges with respondent Federal Labor Relations Authority (Authority), in which they contended that the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute (Labor Statute), 5 U. S. C. §§7101-7135 (1988 ed. and Supp. IV), required the agencies to divulge the addresses. The Labor Statute generally provides that agencies must, “to the extent not prohibited by law,” furnish unions with…
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