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Case ID: 2748 | Civil Rights | 10/16/2006
Several class actions have been filed against JetBlue Airways Corporation and Torch Concepts, Inc. on behalf of passengers who allege that JetBlue gave their private information to Torch Concepts, a U.S. defense contractor, in violation of the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act and their rights to privacy. The actions seeks destruction of the transferred data, statutory damages of $1,000 per violation plus unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
On September 19, 2003, JetBlue announced publicly that it gave Torch Concepts five million electronically stored passenger names, addresses, phone numbers, and itineraries in September 2002. Torch is a data-mining company that has made much of its money through U.S. defense contracts. Torch allegedly took the information from JetBlue and paired it with information from another demographics data-mining company, Acxiom Corporation, which is not named as a defendant in this action. Based on the compiled information, Torch produced a study, "Homeland Security: Airline Passenger Risk Assessment," that JetBlue has indicated was used to help the government improve military base security. The airline's privacy policy published online says "the financial and personal information collected on this site is not shared with any third parties." On September 22, 2003, the Washington, D.C.-based Electronic Privacy Information Center filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, accusing JetBlue of engaging in deceptive trade practices. That complaint does include Acxiom Corporation as one of the offenders. The Acxiom information allegedly included passenger Social Security numbers along with financial and family information. Despite what JetBlue claims it was told by the Department of Defense and Torch Concepts, privacy advocates fear the information was used to create a prototype for a nationwide computer system being developed by the Transportation Security Administration. After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Congress ordered a system developed that would check passengers' credit reports and consumer transactions, then compare the information with security "watch lists." According to the Electronic Privacy Information Center's FTC complaint, Torch presented the study "Homeland Security Airline Passenger Risk Assessment" at a February 2003 defense industry conference. The presentation allegedly included an example of information on an unnamed JetBlue passenger complete down to previous addresses, lengths of residence, Social Security number and date of birth. Up until mid-September 2003, the study was allegedly posted on an defense industry Internet site. The class action adds to this with the frightening allegation that Torch Concepts touted that this system would be able to comprehensively classify the flying habits of the entire database of passengers if it only had their short-term and lifetime flying records. It could then classify each passenger as green, meaning no threat; yellow, needing more careful security precautions; or red, meaning that the passenger should not be allowed to fly.
At Lawcash.com, it is our goal to keep you informed about important legal cases, class actions and settlements. Our lawyers offer free legal evaluations in tort cases, class actions, personal injury, and other lawsuits because we are dedicated to helping you resolve your legal complaints. Other Civil Rights Cases of Interest A class action filed against the Northshore Mining Company of Silver Bay, Minnesota, by its female employees has been certified by the court. The case alleges that the company has been systematically discriminating against its female employees.
State and federal laws protect persons from discrimination based on their race, color, ethnicity, and gender. The parties have reached a tentative $700,000 settlement in an action filed against the West Virginia Department of Transportation, Division of Highways, on behalf of women and racial minorities who are current of former employees of the Division, or who applied or were deterred from applying for jobs between January 1, 1989, and March 31, 2003. Eligible persons should contact the class attorneys for more information as soon as possible. Royal Dutch/Shell Group agreed to pay about $90 million to settle a lawsuit brought by its U.S. employees after the company overstated its oil and gas reserves by 41 percent.
The accord brings to about $240 million costs related to the overstatement, which led to lawsuits, criminal investigations and the ouster of Chief Executive Philip Watts. Insurance will cover $25 million of the settlement, Shell said in a statement July 12, 2005. A national collective action has been filed in Florida against retail video and computer game giant, Electronics Boutique of America, Inc. The action is brought on behalf of all current and former employees, who since March 2001, were not paid proper statutory overtime for all hours worked beyond 40 per week. The action is brought under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and seeks statutory and liquidated damages as well as declaratory and injunctive relief. As a collective action, all potential claimants are required to "opt-in" to the action in order to be considered part of the class. The employees have requested that the court issue notice to all potential class members. The parties have reached a tentative settlement in an action filed against the state of Indiana on behalf of all Indiana residents with disabilities who are Medical Assistance recipients and who are either in a Medicaid funded facility or who are at imminent risk of such placement and who have either applied for Medicaid funded services in the community through the Aged and Disabled funded home- and community-based waivers administered by the state or who would be eligible for such services if they were available. Interested persons should contact the class attorneys for more information. The court has certified a class of African American employees of Florida state mental hospitals who are seeking pension compensation as "special risk" employees based on their duties at the facilities, which often bring them in direct contact with dangerous residents.
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