Class Claims Firm Bought Workers Comp Info
CLEVELAND (CN) - The Bureau of Research and its owner Stedson McIntyre bought confidential claimant information from an employee of the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation for nearly a decade and disclosed it to third parties, including a felon, a class action claims in Cuyahoga County Court.
The class claims the purchases were illegal, and McIntyre and his company exposed claimants to identity theft and theft of their personal information.
Lead plaintiff Sandra Jones claims McIntyre held "secret meetings" with claims service worker Marlene Woodruff for nearly a decade. Jones says McIntyre paid Woodruff by cash or check for the claims information. McIntyre then shared the confidential information with "other entities and individuals including an employee ... who was a known felon," according to the complaint.
Jones says the state notified her in January of 2008 that an "external party" had gained access to her address and claim information. She says that forced her to buy credit-monitoring services, and caused her "substantial aggravation, distress, (and) anxiety."
The current filing in Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas followed an earlier filing in the Court of Claims which was answered by a defense motion for summary judgment which in turn led to a voluntry dismissal by the plaintiff and a refiling in the Court of Common Pleas.
The class also claims that McIntyre has destroyed and concealed evidence. They seek damages, including identity theft protection for life, and allege statutory violations, negligence, privacy invasion and spoliation of evidence. They are represented by W. Craig Bashein.