Court Accepts Appeal for Access to Public Info on Retired Teachers

The New York Court of Appeals has accepted an appeal from the Empire Center after they were refused access to the names of retired teachers in public pension plans under the Freedom of Information Law. The lower courts agreed with the right of privacy of teacher names.

The Empire Center collects data for its research, for news media and for private individuals to track down how public money is spent and to help identify any abuses. The center does not collect addresses or other data from the records, which were once provided by retirement systems as public documents. Arguments are expected within a matter of weeks, with a decision shortly after.