OK AG says OKC officials should release DOB of employee placed on administrative leave

Our state attorney general on Monday added his voice to the chorus of open government experts calling for Oklahoma City officials to release the birth date of an employee placed on administrative leave during an investigation of a federal grant.

Speaking at an open government workshop in Tecumseh, Drew Edmondson also said OKC officials should consider whether identifying a second employee placed on administrative leave would serve the public good, The Oklahoman reported today.

He said governments should err on the side of transparency regarding the release of dates of birth of employees. OKC officials have argued that releasing the birth date of the employee would be an unwarranted invasion of privacy.

However, Edmondson said it’s difficult to contend that birth dates are private when they are found in a number of public records – an argument made in this blog and in The Oklahoman in the past week.

Joey Senat, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
OSU School of Journalism