A call to our newsroom leads to the largest consumer protection payout in Kansas history.
Back in March, a person reported that a Wichita company filled a dumpster with personnel files from across the nation. Fact Finder 12 Investigator Michael Schwanke went to check it out and was shocked by what he found.
Inside the dumpter was hundreds of documents containing a person's most private information. Lone Star Business Solutions, a third party company that handled payroll, accounting and human resource duties for Lone Star Steakhouse dumped the information.
After our story aired, it prompted an investigation by the Kansas Attorney General. The AG's Office announced Monday that Lone Star Business Solutions will pay $200,000 to the state, the largest payout of its kind. AG Derek Schmidt says the company will also take steps to protect employee privacy in the future.
“Companies that collect sensitive personal information have a legal duty to keep that information secure and to dispose of it properly,” Schmidt said. “Dumping records in an open dumpster in an alley does not satisfy that legal duty.”
