Lawsuit: Disney Left Workers Vulnerable To ID Theft

Santa Ana - The Walt Disney Co. was sued in federal court in Santa Ana today in a class action lawsuit that alleges the company-issued employee badges leave workers vulnerable to identity theft.

The lawsuit alleges Disney violates state law regarding privacy rights because the bar code contained on employee badges contains Social Security numbers that could easily be swiped by smart phone applications, attorney Cornelia Dai said.

Suzi Brown of Disney said: "We disagree with the legal premise of the lawsuit. Protecting cast members' personal information is a responsibility we take very seriously."

Brown blamed the employees' union, Unite Here, Local 11, for exploiting the issue because of dragged-out negotiations over health care benefits.

"The fact that Local 11 leadership is trying to sensationalize this situation, like many others over the past three years, underscores that they seem to have no genuine interest in resolving their labor dispute," Brown said.

Disneyland resort worker Josh Stern noticed the alleged vulnerability about four or five months ago when he was playing around with a new app on his smart phone, Dai said.

Stern scanned the bar code over the phone app, "And he thought, wait a second, that's my Social Security number," Dai said. He tested it with another co-worker and was able to also get his Social Security number, Dai added.

Thieves who steal identities for various types of fraud can use a Social Security number to gain access to checking accounts and engage in many other types of stealing, Dai said.

"We want the practice to stop and the ID cards taken and destroyed and replaced without personal identification embedded on them," Dai said.

Also, if any employee can show they were the victims of identity theft because of the badges, the plaintiffs want them to be compensated, Dai said.

The plaintiffs are not seeking any emergency injunctions or restraining orders, but if Disney does not move fast then they will rethink that strategy, Dai said.

Disney officials have been aware of the problem with the badges and have not done anything about it, prompting the lawsuit, which was assigned today to a federal judge in Santa Ana, Dai said.

In its dispute with the union, Disney officials made a compromise offer earlier this month that would include wage increases over five years, a choice of remaining in the union's health plan or moving to Disney's plan as well as a decrease in workloads for housekeepers.

Union officials rejected the offer, Leigh Shelton of Unite Here said.

"Unfortunately, at the end of the day, the offer meant dramatic givebacks so it was rejected," Shelton said, adding both sides are continuing to negotiate.

Disney's response to the lawsuit, "is really unfortunate because it fails to address a very serious issue that this company is unlawfully exposing employees to identity theft," Shelton said.