Company Allegedly Dumped Records, Gets Hit With Lawsuit

The State of Kansas filed a lawsuit against a company for allegedly dumping sensitive material.

Here at Legal Shred, we cannot stress the importance of safely and securely shredding your sensitive documents, and here’s a perfect example of why businesses need to shred their paperwork.

SearchTec, Inc., a Kansas-based public records search company, is under fire for allegedly dumping client documents in a dumpster rather than shredding the documents.  Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt announced a lawsuit against Searchtec Inc., for allegedly violating the Kansas’ Consumer Protection Act.

The Kansas Consumer Protection Act was created to protect Kansas consumers from suppliers who commit deceptive and unconscionable practices.

“The state alleges the defendants [violated consumer privacy laws] … by repeatedly disposing of records containing personal information by dumping them in various unsecured waste receptacles owned by other persons in and about the city of Topeka without rendering the personal information unreadable or undecipherable,” the lawsuit states.

Despite collecting and routinely disposing of information that includes sensitive information, the company does not have a paper shredder, the attorney general’s office alleges. The A.G.’s office is seeking restitution for SearchTec customers totaling an unspecific amount, along with $10,000 for each violation of the Kansas Consumer Protection Act.

Paper is a necessity for businesses, and how we keep and dispose of documents largely depends on its contents, and the rules and regulations. You can’t just toss any old document in a trash receptacle, as it may contain confidential business, employee, or customer information. This lawsuit is demonstrative of how serious it can get for businesses who are found in non-compliance.

With several laws mandating the protection of client and employee information, outsourcing your shredding is a very easy way to make sure you are in compliance with many of them. Legal Shred offers the comfort of knowing that you are following all the rules and paper shredding laws. Let’s get started today.

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