ET: The Motel 6 hotel chain agreed to pay a $12 million settlement on April 4 for routinely cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
Washington state sued the hotel chain for complying with requests from ICE to share guest lists, according to Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson.
The $12 million will go to some 80,000 people who stayed at seven Motel 6 locations in Washington from 2015 to 2017. In a statement, Ferguson encouraged those who stayed at the hotels to reach out to his office for compensation. The attorney general promised not to share the information about those who reach out to the federal government.
Ferguson said guests’ rights were violated because the hotel gave their personal information to ICE without their knowledge. The information led to the successful detention and deportation of several illegal aliens.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee declared the entire state a sanctuary for illegal aliens in February 2018. Inslee prohibited any state officials from detaining illegal aliens at the request of federal immigration enforcement authorities. Inslee’s order didn’t extend to private companies.
A provision in the Motel 6 settlement will have a national impact. The chain agreed to not share guest information with ICE nationwide unless served with a warrant or other legal order, Ferguson said.
Motel 6 also agreed to provide training to all of its employees about disclosing information to federal authorities. The states attorney general will monitor the company for three years to ensure compliance.
Motel 6 said in a statement it was pleased to settle, and “the safety and security of our guests, which includes protecting guest information, is our top priority.”
“We are pleased to be able to reach a resolution in this matter,” a company representative told ABC News. “As part of the agreement, Motel 6 will continue to enforce its guest privacy policy, which prohibits the sharing of guest information, except in cases where a judicially enforceable warrant or subpoena is present, or local law requires this information.”
Ferguson filed a lawsuit in January 2018 accusing Motel 6 of violating the Consumer Protection Act and the Washington Law Against Discrimination.
The settlement came five months after Motel 6 agreed to a $7.6 million settlement of similar claims in a proposed class-action lawsuit in Arizona. That accord has yet to receive court approval, court records show. more here
the left claims states rights. says corporations are their slaves and shall not cooperate with the union.
This Ferguson asshole is a one man plague
Maths are always fun with stuff like this because you can determine from the numbers given, on average any one of those 7 motels would have only 15.6 guests per day, assuming “from 2015 to 2017” includes only 2 years, but if it involves 3 years, the average guest count is only 10.4 per motel per day and the real number sits somewhere between the two.
Without lawyers, each guest would get $150, with lawyers each guest would get about 4 bucks.
It’s a double-edged sword. Motel 6 violated Washington State law and the privacy of its patrons. On the other hand, ICE got a lot of good info that most likely led to the arrest of criminal aliens. I have to come down on the side of the law and privacy, but trust me, Washington State is not to be trusted with Federal, Constitutionally-related cases.
I hope Tom can afford to still leave the light on. He should appeal this to the Federal Level if possible.
Funny, every time I stay at Motel 6 it seems like they’re always running OUT of ice…
😉
So when they gonna come down on facebook, twitter, google and amazon for mining info on all of us?
Ok. Now apply this to Google, Yahoo, 23andMe.com, Ancestry.com, AT&T.
Who else has shared our information without our consent?
Because I’d wager Google and Facebook have deeper pockets than the Red Rash Inn.
FFS! Sex and slave trafficking are ok in Wash I guess.
Sorry, but that is not a 12 million dollar mistake. A warning letter should have been all that was needed.
F**K Washington state! 😡
CUT their federal aid by $12 million dollars! 😡
I haven’t stayed in a Motel Sicks in 40 years. It sucked then, and I can only imagine what it is like now that it is overrun with third world illegals. No thank you; I can do without bedbugs, fleas and cockroaches.
The lesson is simple: Give no information about anyone that is private and privileged unless a warrant accompanies the request for it.
I would think most all businesses would already follow that practice if they have any legal savvy.
They should have taken it tonthe supreme court.
Avoid motel 6 is you want to sleep.in sfety.
Why didn’t they just ask Zuckerberg?
Is there a presumption of privacy when I check into a public motel?
I would expect my credit card info to be secured, and perhaps, my luggage – while in the room – but my name and address are used for advertising and, probably, for tax purposes – and if I’m travelling on business (I assume) I’d have to provide evidence for any expenses incurred.
So, a presumption of privacy seems chimerical.
izlamo delenda est …