Nassau County Executive Laura Curran Issues Executive Order Protecting Workers’ Personal Information
Mineola, NY - July 23, 2018 - Nassau County Executive Laura Curran today joined with Nassau County Comptroller Jack Schnirman, Legislator Arnold W. Drucker and union leaders as she signed an Executive Order that will prohibit the personal information of any public employee from being released.
“No worker should be concerned with their personal information being provided to anyone without their knowledge,” said Curran. “This Executive Order will prohibit any such action in Nassau County.”
The recent United States Supreme Court decision in Janus v. AFSCME held that workers who do not wish to join a union are not required to finance union activity by the deduction of fee payments from their paychecks, even when the union represents the bargaining units to which these workers belong.
Curran’s Executive Order—the fifth since she took office in January 2018—protects an individual’s union membership status and forbids distribution of personal information of a labor represented employee or employee engaging in union activities or looking to unionize.
“I commend County Executive Curran on taking strong action today to protect the personal information of county employees. The workforce is our partner in progress in Nassau County and deserve to work in an environment free of harassment from those who wish to destroy the labor movement,” Schnirman said. “Our team is meeting with our labor partners this afternoon so that we can identify any issues and continue working collaboratively on these challenges.”
Governor Andrew Cuomo and both Suffolk and Westchester Counties have also issued Executive Orders.
Information covered under the Executive Order includes the home address, personal telephone number, personal cell phone number or personal e-mail address of a public employee. It does not cover information subject to New York Civil Service Law or information requested by lawful service of process, subpoena, court order, or as otherwise required by law or publicly available information.
“Our workers deserve to have their information remain personal and private,” said Curran. “This order is in effect immediately and will be enforced.”