Opinion ID: 155524
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Disclosure to Pippinger's Co-Workers

Text: 75 Pippinger also claims that the IRS violated the Privacy Act because most of the people in the Cheyenne district office of the IRS knew about Pippinger's two-day suspension and the reasons underlying it. Pippinger claims that this widespread knowledge gives rise to an inference that Taylor or one of his staff members disclosed private information about Pippinger to Pippinger's co-workers. 76 The district court rejected this claim, noting that [t]o the extent [Pippinger] argues that other individuals knew about his relationship with Ms. Boak and his suspension, there is no evidence in the record that such information was disclosed by Taylor or someone else within an agency who had learned the information from [Pippinger's] personnel records. Pippinger, slip op. at 9. We agree. 77 In his deposition, Pippinger admitted that rumors concerning his affair had been widespread within the Cheyenne district of the IRS, even before any disciplinary action was taken against him. Pippinger further testified that he was very angry when Taylor first told him about the suspension, and that he told Taylor that if anybody asked me, I'm going to tell them the truth, including the truth about the fact that Pippinger had been suspended for two days. Pippinger admitted that he discussed the details of his suspension with his paramour/coworker Lynn Boak. Pippinger also admitted that he had told several of his coworkers about his suspension, including Robert Heuschkel and Reggie Bruce, and may also have discussed it with co-workers Marilyn Beaman, Alice Kleiman, and Kent Ewing. 78 Against this background, the mere fact that information contained in Pippinger's personnel files was well-known in his workplace does not give rise to an inference that such knowledge was widespread because of a disclosure from Pippinger's personnel files. As the district court correctly noted, the Privacy Act does not prohibit disclosure of information or knowledge obtained from sources other than records. Thomas v. United States Dep't of Energy, 719 F.2d 342, 345 (10th Cir.1983). In particular, it does not prevent federal employees or officials from talking--even gossiping--about anything of which they have non-record-based knowledge. Id. 79 A number of people in Pippinger's workplace had personally observed Pippinger's relationship with Boak. Several learned the details of Pippinger's suspension from Pippinger himself. Accordingly, in the absence of any evidence suggesting that the IRS actually disclosed information from Pippinger's records, Pippinger's inferential evidence of such disclosure cannot withstand summary judgment. 80