CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.–A member of a credit union here has filed a lawsuit against the local Sheriff’s office after what started as a routine trip through the CU’s drive-through.
Justa Guthrie, a mother to six children who works as a house cleaner and who teaches Sunday school, filed the lawsuit against the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office alleging it illegally obtained her information and then posted on social media that she and her sons committed crimes they were never involved in, WCRB reported.
According to the report, the Bradley County Sheriff's Office posted surveillance photos on Facebook showing Guthrie depositing a check at Bowater Employees Credit Union in Calhoun, Tenn. The pictures show the faces of two of her kids in the car, WCRB said.
The Sheriff’s Office post accused Guthrie of passing stolen checks and using stolen credit cards.
‘This is Wrong’
"I even commented, I said this is wrong. I called my bank and she called me,” WCRB quoted Guthrie as saying. “She called me several times and she said, ‘I'm so sorry this happened, we violated your privacy.’”
Guthrie's attorney told WCRB the post was deleted three hours after it was posted.
"You have these people out here thinking that you're a thief," she told WCRB. "My two sons had people at their work questioning them about it and they eventually had to switch jobs."
Guthrie's attorney, Scott Maucere, believes the Sheriff's office used a subpoena to get his client's name from Bowater Employees Credit Union.
"When you issue a subpoena, that's an official request to receive information from the bank, and the bank has a legal duty to comply with it, if the subpoena is legally issued," he said.
Failure to Protect Privacy
Maucere said the credit union failed to protect Guthrie's information, violating Tennessee's Financial Records Privacy Act.
"There are several things on its face that the bank, that Bowater should have said no, we're not going to comply with this, we need more information,” Maucere told WCRB. “We need to protect our customer.”
Guthrie and her legal counsel said the Sheriff’s office have not responded since she filed the lawsuit three months ago. Bowater Employees has also not commented, according to WCRB.
Guthrie told the publication the credit union did provide an apology and a blanket.