Motel 6 has settled a nation-wide lawsuit and agreed to pay as much as $7.6 million to guests whose private information was given to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by the hotel chain.
The lawsuit which was filed this year by former guests of Hotel 6 claimed that their privacy had been violated by Motel 6 handing their information over to ICE. The lawsuit followed on the heels of a 2017 Phoenix New Times report that documented at least 20 arrests by ICE agents at just two Motel 6 locations in Arizona.
The proposed settlement also includes provisions that the hotel will not to share guests’ personal information without a warrant or subpoena unless it will prevent “a significant crime.”
Motel 6 and the Mexican American legal fund, which filed the lawsuit, released a joint statement on the agreement.
“Motel 6 fully recognizes the seriousness of the situation and accepts full responsibility for both compensating those who were harmed and taking the necessary steps to ensure that we protect the privacy of our guests,” it said. The hotel chain did not, however, admit to any wrongdoing.
The settlement, which still needs approval from the district court, requires Motel 6 to pay up to $5.6 million (at least $7,500 per guest) to those who were placed in immigration-removal proceedings; up to $1 million (at least $1,000 per guest) to those who were interrogated; and up to $1 million (at least $50 per guest) to those whose personal information was given to federal authorities.
This was the second lawsuit levied against Motel 6 this year for privacy concerns. A similar lawsuit, which is still pending, was filed in January by Washington state.
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