KSTP anchor Jessica Miles has filed a federal lawsuit claiming her driver’s license information was illegally searched nearly 1,380 times.
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports, about 20 people have sued local and state government agencies after hearing from the Department of Public Safety that their private records had been accessed by public employees.
Mile’s lawsuit states, “On July 30, 2013, Jessica was shocked and disgusted to learn from DPS that it had determined that officers and personnel from approximately 180 different departments and agencies had reviewed and improperly obtained or used her private data.”
Miles, the on-air name of Jessica Kampschroer, is married to Cory Kampschroer a digital news manager at the Minneapolis-St. Paul ABC affiliate who is also joining the suit.
According to Rick Kupchella, another KSTP employee sued several state agencies in July after learning 170 employees had illegally accessed her private driver’s license information 500 times.
The suit says when Miles contacted the agency after learning about the breach, she was told only one employee had accessed her records out of curiosity. She was also told, “the department has taken the appropriate and allowable disciplinary actions necessary to address this matter with the employee.”
One month later, Miles’ bank told her an unknown person had used her information to switch her account and have new a bank card issued for that account.
According to the Star-Tribune, Miles’ lawyer Kenn Fukuda has filed most of the lawsuits over this issue and told them he was seeking damages for “emotional distress, loss of peace of mind and any action she has had to take to remedy the situation.”
Bruce Gordon, DPS director of communications told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, “We can’t comment on pending litigation, and we have yet to see the lawsuit.”
>UPDATE: Kenn Fukuda, Miles’ lawyer told TVSpy, “She and her husband, Cory Kampschroer, are suing the various officers, cities, counties, and other individuals that were responsible for obtaining and disclosing their private information.
There is no dollar amount yet determined, as damages will be proven at trial. Congress, via the Drivers’ Privacy Protection Act, has established baseline damages of $2,500 per violation, which was Congress’ opinion of the value of each violation of the DPPA.”
A member of Miles’ legal team clarified the $2500 per violation calculation is the minimum value of each violation. Taking that into account both Miles (1380) and her husband (92) could see $3.68 million if awarded.