AMHERST — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has sued the University of Massachusetts in Suffolk Superior Court, seeking the names of those who serve on campus panels that review and approve laboratory experiments on animals.
The lawsuits, filed Tuesday under the state public records law against UMass Amherst and UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester, contend that the university is intentionally withholding the names and activities of members of its Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees. Federal rules require such committees at research institutions.
The lawsuits come after an April 2025 settlement agreement between UMass Amherst and PETA in an earlier lawsuit in the same court. Under that agreement, PETA was to receive all videos, photos and other documentation associated with experiments on marmoset monkeys in a UMass laboratory, and UMass officials indicated the identities of committee members would be provided.
In addition to demanding the university release the names of committee members, the lawsuits ask the court to order UMass to honor the settlement agreement and cover attorney fees.
PETA says it took legal action because as public universities funded partially by federal money, people have a right to know who is on the committees and what actions they take at monthly meetings.
“Knowing the identities of individual IACUC members is critical to the public’s ability to determine whether the designated non-scientist and non-affiliated members are qualified for those positions and, thus, whether the IACUC is properly comprised,” the lawsuit states.
According to the complaint against UMass Amherst, PETA requested committee meeting minutes in October 2025 covering Jan. 1, 2022, through the date of its request. UMass turned over the records in March 2026, but committee members’ initials were redacted everywhere except attendance lists, and other information about the committee’s activities was also removed. UMass cited exemptions to the public records law for what it termed “deliberative” material and “trade secrets.”
UMass also stated that none of the “substance of the committee’s work” was redacted, and that all of the “motions, votes, and actions taken are contained in the provided records.”
UMass Chan has also not provided the names of members of its committee.
“Committee members are public employees at public universities, and the law is clear that the people paying the bills have a right to know who’s making decisions about animals’ lives behind laboratory doors,” PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo said in a statement. “PETA is going to court to drag these committees out of the shadows and hold UMass to the same transparency standard the law demands of every taxpayer-funded institution.”
PETA has been active for several years in protesting menopause experiments on marmoset monkeys that had been taking place in a UMass Amherst laboratory, with the first concerns in 2016 after the death of a marmoset that was severely burned by a heating pad while recovering from a vasectomy. This animal research came to an end in 2025 after federal funding from the National Cancer Institute, National Institute on Aging and National Institute of Mental Health had dried up.
UMass spokeswoman Emily Gest said the university wouldn’t respond publicly to the lawsuit, but said that UMass follows all federal and state rules related to animal welfare.
“While we don’t comment on active litigation, UMass Amherst is committed to animal welfare and caring for animal models with the highest ethical standards and with rigorous compliance with all applicable federal and state laws and guidelines,” Gest said.
Previously UMass officials observed that animal research work has saved and improved the lives of millions of people and animals.
“Animal research has contributed to many of the medical advances we now know today, including vaccines, antibiotics, anesthesia and medicines used to treat serious conditions,” the university said in the past statements. “Research in the last few decades has also begun to tackle some of the most complex medical problems we face such as heart disease, depression, HIV and cancer. Many key questions in science can only be addressed by studies on animals.”
PETA argues that it is on solid legal footing, pointing to legal action against the University of Washington in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that releasing committee member names does not violate their right to privacy and should be considered “basic ‘biographical data’” that is not highly sensitive.
