Volume III

Issue : 6: March 24, 2005

• French Court of Appeal Rules on Downloading
• U.S. Banks May Have to Warn Customers of Suspected Identity Theft
• Ongoing U.S. State-Federal Dispute over Internet Gambling
• French News Service Sues Google
• Michigan Court of Appeals Finds Union Owes Duty to Protect Employees from Identity Theft
• Google Loses Appeal in French Trademark Case
• Maine Court Rules on Identifying Anonymous Internet Users

Home > Volume III > Issue 6: March 24, 2005 > Michigan Court of Appeals Finds Union Owes Duty to Protect Employees from Identity Theft

Michigan Court of Appeals Finds Union Owes Duty to Protect Employees from Identity Theft

In Michigan , the Court of Appeals has recently ruled that, under negligence principles, unionized 911 operators who were victims of identity theft were owed a duty of care by the union that held their personal information. The union was aware that confidential member information was being removed from its premises but did not develop procedural safeguards to ensure the security of the information, and the Court determined that it was foreseeable that the information would be misused and union members would suffer harm. Accordingly, the Court concluded that a special relationship existed between the union and its members such that the union owed its members a duty to protect them from identity theft by providing some safeguards to ensure the security of their most essential confidential identifying information, which could easily be used to appropriate a person's identity.

For a copy of the decision, visit:

http://www.michbar.org/opinions/appeals/2005/021505/26184.pdf