Second union sues government over China hack, alleging constitutional failures

Source: W Post

By Lisa Rein

A second prominent union representing federal employees is suing the government over the Chinese hack of employee data, underscoring the growing legal and political fallout from the breach.

The National Treasury Employees Union announced Wednesday that it filed suit against the Office of Personnel Management in U.S. District Court, alleging that the agency violated union members’ constitutional rights by failing to protect their private information.

“It was a reckless failure to keep the information OPM was given confidentially by thousands of employees,” NTEU President Colleen Kelley said at a news conference announcing the suit, filed in the court’s Northern District of California.

“OPM failed to take measures to protect information it was obligated to protect,” Kelley said, adding that the long-term repercussions from the hack of employee personnel files and a vast database containing background investigation data are “not anything that’s going to be over in a month or two.”

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NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley (Courtesy of National Treasury Employees Union)

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2015/07/08/second-union-sues-government-over-china-hack-alleging-constitutional-failures/