Google Inc. got a win Friday in its ongoing dispute with the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs over data on pay gaps between men and women at the company.

A judge ruled that a data request by the office was “overbroad, intrusive on employee privacy, unduly burdensome and insufficiently focused on obtaining the relevant information.”

The ruling, made by Administrative Law Judge Steven Berlin on Friday, related to a request by the OFCCP that Google hand over the details of 21,000 employees. Those details include their complete salary history and contact information, following a finding in April that claimed that the search giant was systemically discriminating against female employees.

Google denied the allegation, saying that the claim was made “without any supporting data or methodology” and noted that “the OFCCP representative claimed to have reached this conclusion even as the OFCCP is seeking thousands of employee records.” Those records are at the center of the new ruling, with Google successfully arguing that handing over the additional records breaches privacy laws and could expose staff to identity theft in the event of a government data breach. The judge agreed.

According to The Washington Post, in denying the OFFCPP application the judge said the Department of Labor did not explain convincingly why it needed extensive data on Googlers, including their names, addresses, telephone numbers and personal email addresses. He also recognized the privacy risks involved in handing over the data.

“Anyone alive today likely is aware of data breaches surrounding this country’s most recent Presidential election,”  Judge Berlin wrote. “The Department of Labor […] was recently attacked with ransomware. The same has occurred at other government agencies and private businesses. Ransomware being used internationally is reportedly derived from tools hacked from our national security agencies. This Office has been hacked.”

Although the ruling means that Google does not have to hand over all the documents requested by the OFCCP, the case remains open.

“Assuming the recommended decision becomes final, we’ll comply with the remainder of the order, and provide the much more limited data set of information the judge approved, including the contact information for a smaller sample of up to 8,000 employees,” Eileen Naughton, vice president of people operations at Google, said in a blog post. “We remain committed to treating, and paying, people fairly and without bias with regard to factors like gender or race. We are proud of our practices and leadership in this area, and we look forward to working constructively with OFCCP, as we complete this review and in the future.”

Photo: meteo/Flickr