Privacy in Legal Proceedings

Your Right to Privacy in Legal Proceedings

I suspect my right to privacy has been violated.

A sheriff came to my office with a garnishment order and was trying to present it someone in authority.

It was not in an envelope with all my personal information on it.

I am in the office by myself thank goodness and questioned his right to share my information in that way since the payroll office is at an entirely different address.

He disputed me for awhile and then called someone and was told to bring it back to the courthouse.

I deeply resent this happening since if this had gone to anyone else I probably would be not only embarrassed but got into some trouble with my immediate boss who does not share the same space I do.

I called the debt collector who initiated the order and told them I got one at home on my door and in the mail and they have no right to send it to my job unless it was to the right party and not just any third party they feel like sending it to.

His response was very nasty and then he said they send it to the address they have. He also said he was a paralegal, so I think he should at least know something about the law and what I was saying made sense.

Do I have right to not have my personal information handled so carelessly?

Thank you.

Stephanie

---

Probably not. In most states a wage garnishment cannot be obtained without a court order. Therefore your case is a matter of public record and the sheriff or marshal were acting under “color of law”.

They have the obligation to serve court orders to someone of authority at your company. While it would be nice for them to preserve your privacy and go to the payroll office, that is not necessarily the case.

The order might even specify who is to be served and it would not be unusual to specify a company officer rather than a payroll clerk. The court would find it easier to enforce its orders that way.

The good news is that you cannot be fired for a single garnishment: the bad news is that you can be fired for multi garnishments from different sources.

It would be nice is court officers acted more discreetly, but many times they act without regard for your feelings or privacy. Unless your state has specific laws against it, there is probably nothing you can do.

If you want to pursue the matter, you will have to find a local attorney willing to take your case. Call your local Bar Association’s Lawyer’s Referral Service for some names of qualified attorneys and get a free consultation. You will quickly find out if you have a case worth pursuing.

The time to act to prevent this kind of thing is before you get to the stage of legal action. It is always worth the effort to try to work something out with your creditors before you came to blows with them. In most cases, you’ll lose.

Sorry I couldn’t be of more help.

  | Top | Questions | Home |