Federal workers sue Elon Musk and DOGE to cut off data access

More than 100 current and former federal workers have sued Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency agency he runs for allegedly accessing highly sensitive personnel records without proper vetting or authorization, according to a new federal lawsuit filed Tuesday.

The lawsuit was filed in the Southern District of New York by 104 workers along with various unions representing government workers. The plaintiffs are asking for the government’s main HR agency, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), to cut off access to DOGE and its agents. 

“OPM Defendants gave DOGE Defendants and DOGE’s agents — many of whom are under the age of 25 and are or were until recently employees of Musk’s private companies —  ‘administrative’ access to OPM computer systems, without undergoing any normal, rigorous national-security vetting,” the lawsuit reads.

The complaint names Elon Musk, DOGE, the OPM, and current OPM director Charles Ezell as defendants.

The lawsuit alleges that DOGE obtaining OPM records violated the Privacy Act, which prohibits improper access to personal data, including across federal agencies. 

“The Privacy Act makes it unlawful for OPM Defendants to hand over access to OPM’s millions of personnel records to DOGE Defendants, who lack a lawful and legitimate need for such access,” the complaint alleges. “No exception to the Privacy Act covers DOGE Defendants’ access to records held by OPM.”

The lawsuit says DOGE’s agents were not government employees at the time they received access to OPM computer networks. It calls out 19-year-old DOGE worker Edward Coristine, who reportedly went by “Big Balls” online, for being fired from a cybersecurity firm after an internal probe into data leaks during his employment.

The suit also alleges that DOGE’s access to federal worker data could spark harmful professional consequences for them, noting that Musk and President Trump have threatened to fire employees viewed as disloyal. Disclosure of their financial data could also expose the workers to hacking by criminals and foreign actors, the complaint says.

The lawsuit comes amid growing controversy over DOGE’s access to sensitive government data as the agency begins instituting mass layoffs and other reforms across the federal government. 

The lawsuit is focused on getting an injunction to cut off that access, but is just “phase one” before a class action lawsuit, a lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Victoria Noble, told WIRED.

DOGE, OPM, and representatives for Musk’s companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.