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Motel 6 to Pay $10 Million for Sharing Guest Data With ICE
Motel 6 has agreed to pay $10 million to settle claims with former guests targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents for deportation because of their "Latino-sounding names."
The deal is an amended settlement to resolve a case filed on behalf of unidentified victims of ICE interrogation and deportation after Motel 6 shared its guest lists with federal agents. Some of the 1,400 branches of the discount hotel chain allowed ICE agents to bang on doors during early morning hours to question and detain guests.
A November deal to resolve the litigation was panned by an Arizona federal judge in January who questioned whether either side could plausibly identify any of the victims, some of whom may be undocumented immigrants. Among U.S. District Judge David Campbell's concerns was whether unnamed plaintiffs would be willing to identify themselves to collect damages as low as $50.
[...] The new settlement increases minimum compensation to $75 while increasing maximum damages to $200,000 from $100,000 for those victims enduring deportation proceedings. Should the parties fail to identify the John and Jane Does represented in the case, unclaimed damages will be awarded to one of four non-profit organizations which offer legal aid to Latino residents in the U.S.
Minimum compensation ought to be at least $200 (see previous story).
Also at Reuters.
Previously: Two Motel 6 Locations in Phoenix, AZ Reported Guests to U.S. ICE [Updated]
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Monday July 01 2019, @03:02PM (1 child)
While I agree with you on that point, I'm confused a bit about what that point has to do with Motel 6. If I read TFA (and previous article) correctly, Motel 6 voluntarily provided COMPLETE guest lists to ICE. ICE apparently was the organization who made the stupid determination that it would investigate people solely on the basis of Latino-sounding names, rather than maybe doing some further background checks first or whatever.
ICE is the one doing the profiling here. Motel 6 might be in the wrong for violating customers' privacy by giving up names without a warrant (an action that is probably not illegal, though it may be against their implicit or explicit promises to customers), but I am missing something from TFA?
Motel 6 may be held liable for violating their customers privacy, I suppose. (In a reasonable world, releasing customer data without explicit approval should be a criminal offense, but it isn't in the U.S.) But is Motel 6 liable for ICE's decision to profile in a ridiculous manner?
This may be a minor point, but it's important to delineate who did what wrong.
(Score: 3, Informative) by ilPapa on Monday July 01 2019, @03:22PM
No, Motel 6 is liable for making the very poor decision to give up information on guests without a warrant to ICE thugs.
You are still welcome on my lawn.