New York state’s highest court has ruled that the public has the right to know the names of state and local government retirees who receive pensions.

The 6-0 decision handed down by the New York Court of Appeals is a setback to public employee unions in the state that have fought for years to prevent a conservative fiscal watchdog group in Albany from collecting the pension records and including them in a searchable database.

The Empire Center for New York State Policy submitted a Freedom of Information Law request to the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System and the New York City Teachers’ Retirement System for the names of all retired members and their gross annual benefits.

The teacher pension funds argued that release of the data would invade the privacy of the retirees.

“The idea that anyone’s privacy will be invaded is speculative,” Judge Robert S. Smith wrote in Tuesday’s ruling.

Timothy Hoefer, executive director of the center, called the decision “a huge win for the public’s right to know.”

The group has posted online the names and pension benefits of hundreds of thousands of retired state and city employees in New York. Media outlets have used the information to track spending patterns and to highlight individual cases such as so-called double-dippers, who collect pension benefits and a public salary at the same time.

The state teachers’ retirement system will comply with the decision, said Heidi Brennan, coordinator of public information.

“We are disappointed with a decision that allows a right-wing think tank to get the names of pensioners … to embarrass them,” said Carl Korn, a spokesman for New York State United Teachers, a statewide union.

© 2014 Wall Street Journal