A court has held that the privacy rights of thousands of high-level federal employees could be violated if a provision of the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act (“STOCK Act”) were enforced. The STOCK Act requires online disclosure of employees’ financial information, and it would have become effective but for the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. See Senior Executives Association v. United States, D. Md., No. 12-2297, 3/27/13; www.bloomberglaw.com/public/document/Senior_Executives_Association_et_al_v_ United States of America_et.
The STOCK Act disclosure provisions would have impacted approximately 28,000 executive branch employees. The court’s latest ruling indicated that it would at least delay the provision from becoming effective. The challenge to the STOCK Act was launched last year by the Senior Executives Association, several other federal employee organizations, and individual government workers. There were claims that this provision could lead to blackmail, and an invasion of privacy.
There is no timetable on the final analysis so stay tuned in that those in power may have dodged scrutiny.