Can the government worker who helped me settle my workplace dispute leak my private details to the public?

The situation

I live in Ohio and I have been dealing with a really difficult situation at my job for the last six months. Back in January, I realized my manager was treating me unfairly because of a medical condition I have, so I reached out to the federal government for help. For the past three months, an official has been working with me to try and reach a settlement through a conciliation process. We have been discussing very sensitive details about my health and my specific paycheck amounts to try to fix the issue without going to court. The official has been very helpful so far, but yesterday, I overheard a coworker mentioning that they heard rumors about my private medical situation through some kind of official channel. I am terrified that the person helping me resolve this dispute might be sharing my confidential information or my personal details with other people or the media. I have already tried asking my manager if they knew anything, but they just brushed me off. I need to know if the person assigned to my case is legally allowed to talk about the details of our discussions or if they are required to keep everything I told them strictly private.

Detailed Analysis

Based on the facts you provided, the official working with you to resolve your workplace dispute regarding your medical condition and paycheck is legally required to protect your privacy. Because this official is providing conciliation assistance—which is the process of trying to reach a settlement to avoid a lawsuit—they are bound by specific federal rules.

According to the law, "the activities of all officers and employees of the Service in providing conciliation assistance shall be conducted in confidence and without publicity"^[1]. This means the official cannot share your sensitive health details or your specific salary information with the public or your coworkers. Furthermore, the law states that the agency "shall hold confidential any information acquired in the regular performance of its duties upon the understanding that it would be so held"^[1]. This creates a legal requirement for them to treat the information you shared during these past three months as private.

If the official did indeed leak your information to the media or your coworkers, they could face serious consequences. The statute specifies that any employee who makes information public in violation of these rules "shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned not more than one year"^[1].

While the law is clear about the official's duty, it is currently uncertain if the rumors your coworker mentioned actually originated from the official or from another source, such as a leak within your own company. Additionally, while the official is prohibited from making information public, the law does not explicitly detail how they may share information internally with other authorized government employees for the purpose of your case^[1].

Please note that state or local privacy laws in Ohio may provide additional protections for your personal information.

Statutory Citations

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