Washington Attorney General Ferguson deep sixes Motel 6, orders $12 million settlement
Motel 6 will pay $12 million for violating privacy of its guests at seven Western Washington motels by voluntarily providing lists of guests to agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced Thursday.
Much of the money will be used to provide restitution to any of the 80,000 guests in Washington -- yes, 80,000 -- who were harmed by personal information turned over to ICE agents.
"People stay at motels for all sorts of reasons, some of them intensely personal," Ferguson said. "Lifestyles were altered in fundamental ways."
Motel 6 really left the light on for ICE agents.
Acting without warrant, it provided on a daily basis room numbers, license plate numbers and date of birth information on guests. ICE agents circled Latino-sounding names and asked questions about guests.
Read more: https://www.seattlepi.com/local/politics/article/AG-Ferguson-deep-sixes-Motel-6-12-million-13742538.php