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Members of the confidential Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at the University of Washington are suing the university to prevent it from releasing their names to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals under state open records laws.
PETA filed a lawsuit against the University of Washington in October, seeking to identify members of the committee, which colleges that receive federal money for animal research are required to establish. While such committees are typically confidential, PETA sued UW to demand the members’ names.
State open records laws compel the university to turn over the names, so Washington’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee filed suit to retain confidentiality.
Members brought the lawsuit against UW because they fear that PETA will use their names to target them for harassment, according to a report in Science magazine. PETA—which now employs a former member of UW’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee—claims that there are ethical concerns about who serves on the board at UW, according to Science.
A judge issued a temporary restraining order against the release of the names, Science reported, and the court will decide next month whether to lift that injunction or leave it in place.
