The Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia last week ruled in favor of hundreds of Cintas employees who sued UNITE-HERE for using their motor-vehicle records to obtain personal information about them as part of an organizing drive.  A lower court verdict had held that their rights had been violated under the little-known Driver's Privacy Protection Act of 1994, which prohibits the disclosure and use of personal information obtained through motor vehicle records.  The Court of Appeals has now upheld a minimum judgment of $5 million plus attorneys fees.  According to the Phildaelphia Inquirer, however, that's not the worst news UNITE-HERE faces:

The court raised the possibility that those damages might be expanded. It said the lower court had erred by denying the plaintiffs punitive damages on top of the $5.5 million award and sent the matter back for reconsideration.

Cintas, readers of this blog will recall, is also one of three major employers to have filed a RICO suit against a labor union for Corporate Campaign tactics.  As unions get more inventive in obtaining information about target employees, and increase their use of non-traditional "Corporate Campaign" tactics in organizing efforts, look for legal responses to continue becoming more creative as well.