Over 100 current and former federal employees have filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), accusing them of improperly accessing sensitive personnel records without the necessary approval or security clearance. The lawsuit, which was filed on Tuesday in the Southern District of New York, was initiated by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and other privacy organizations, representing 103 workers and various government employee unions.
The plaintiffs are seeking to have the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the government’s primary human resources agency, revoke access to DOGE and its affiliates.
What the lawsuit says
According to the lawsuit, the OPM granted DOGE and its agents “administrative” access to its systems, despite the agents—many of whom are under 25 and were recently employed by Musk’s private companies—failing to undergo the standard national security background checks.
The legal complaint names Musk, DOGE, the OPM, and OPM Director Charles Ezell as defendants. The plaintiffs argue that DOGE’s access to OPM records constitutes a violation of the Privacy Act, which prohibits unauthorized access to personal information, even between federal agencies.
The lawsuit asserts that OPM’s release of personnel data to DOGE was illegal, as DOGE lacked a legitimate reason to access the records, and there are no exceptions under the Privacy Act that would justify their access.
Additionally, the lawsuit highlights that many of DOGE’s agents were not government employees at the time they accessed OPM’s networks, including 19-year-old DOGE employee Edward Coristine, who reportedly used the alias “Big Balls” online. Coristine was dismissed from a cybersecurity firm after an internal investigation into data leaks during his tenure.
