Steer Clear of Using License Plate Numbers to Obtain Employee Information
by Brent L. Wilson
UNITE was apparently attempting to organize a union campaign consisting of approximately 17,000 employees of Cintas Corporation over what it alleged were low wages, poor benefits, unsafe working conditions, discriminatory practices and violations of various federal and state laws. Asserting that employees would not speak to organizers at work because of fear of retaliation, UNITE sought to contact employees at home.
After union organizers from UNITE visited the homes of several Cintas employees, however, the employees went to Cintas’ human resources department and questioned how their names and home addresses were obtained. The Company determined that union organizers from UNITE had obtained the employees’ names and home addresses by visiting one of Cintas’ facilities in Pennsylvania, writing down license plate numbers of employees’ vehicles and hiring a private investigator to obtain their information from Pennsylvania Auto License Brokers.
UNITE has claimed it was not aware of the DPPA and that it has now stopped using license plate numbers to advance its organizing efforts; thus far, however, UNITE’s claimed ignorance of the law and mending of its ways has not prevented the class action from proceeding. Employers should be careful to not make the same mistake.
For more information, please contact the author at bwilson@elarbeethompson.com
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