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Motel 6 to pay Washington $12M for giving information on 80,000 guests to ICE

David Gutman

By David Gutman 

Seattle Times staff reporter

Motel 6 will pay Washington $12 million to settle a state lawsuit that accused the national hotel chain of providing its guest lists to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, passing along guests’ names, dates of birth, driver’s license numbers and license plate numbers, Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced Thursday.

Motel 6 also signed a consent decree, pledging that it will no longer hand over guest information without a warrant or subpoena, unless there’s reason to believe that someone is in imminent danger. The settlement does not contain any admission of wrongdoing.

“Motel 6 seeks to take corporate responsibility for past actions that adversely affected some of its customers, compensate those individuals who were harmed, and protect guest information with the integrity it deserves,” the consent decree says.

From 2015 to 2017, seven Washington Motel 6 locations shared the personal information of about 80,000 guests, without their knowledge or consent, according to Ferguson.

“Motel 6’s disclosures resulted in ICE’s targeted investigation of many guests with Latino-sounding names on or near the Motel 6 properties where they stayed,” Ferguson’s office wrote, announcing the settlement. “For some guests, Motel 6’s disclosures resulted in the loss of their homes and jobs and separation from their families.”

At least nine Washington residents were detained because of Motel 6’s policies, the attorney general’s office said.