City of Milwaukee files complaint against Dynacare Laboratories



MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- The City of Milwaukee has filed a complaint against Dynacare, the company that allegedly compromised the personal information of thousands of city workers.

The complaint was submitted on behalf of the 9,000 city employees and their spouses who had personal information stolen when a flash drive was taken from a Dynacare employee's vehicle. While no identity thefts have been reported, the flash drive in question remains missing.

"We're doing everything we can to protect them," said Jeff Fleming, a spokesperson for Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.

The Federal Health Information Privacy, or HIPPA, complaint is being filed through the Office for Civil Rights. Fleming says City employees need protection after the incident jeopardized their personal information in late October.

"It included personal identifying information such as social security numbers, addresses and birth dates," said Fleming.

As a City employee, Fleming says his information is stored on the missing device. He says Dynacare let too much time pass before speaking up about the situation.

"There are questions about timeliness and thoroughness of the reporting. The Milwaukee Police Department did not even know about the theft of the data for weeks afterwards," Fleming said.

That is one of the biggest concerns for the City and its workers.

In November, a Milwaukee firefighter and his wife filed a class-action lawsuit against Dynacare. Investigators claim the missing flash drive was unencrypted and not protected by a password.

A spokesperson for the company issued a statement saying: "Dynacare already self-reported this incident to the Office for Civil Rights two months ago. We have no further comment at this time."

Dynacare had been contracted through Froedtert Workforce Health to oversee the City's wellness program.

"We're looking forward to the possibility that this could be resolved amicably," said Fleming.

The City of Milwaukee is working with its other vendors to ensure situations such as this one don't happen again.