WASHINGTON STATE SUES MOTEL 6 OVER GUEST DATA
SEATTLE» Washington’s attorney general sued Motel 6 on Wednesday, alleging the national budget chain disclosed the private information of thousands of its guests to U.S. immigration authorities in violation of the state consumer protection law.
Attorney General Bob Ferguson said motel employees divulged the names, birth dates, driver’s license numbers, license plate numbers and room numbers of at least 9,150 guests to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents without a warrant. At least six people were detained during a two-year period. Factories boom in December. WASHINGTON» U.S. manufacturers expanded at a faster pace in December. A sharp increase in new orders provided much of the boost. The Institute for Supply Management says its manufacturing index rose to 59.7 last month from 58.2 in November. Any reading above 50 points to greater factory activity.
Google pay suit revised.
» A revised SAN FRANCISCO gender-pay lawsuit seeking class-action status against Google faults the search giant for asking new hires about their prior salary, a practice now banned in California. The suit also adds fourth complainant. The four women allege they were underpaid compared to their male counterparts. Google disputes the charges.
American Airlines CEO sells stock, makes $19.2
million. DALLAS» The CEO of American Airlines just raised $19.2 million by selling some of his shares. Doug Parker still has stock worth $88.1 million at the current price. Tesla falls short on Model 3 production. DETROIT» Electric car maker Tesla Inc. has again fallen short of production goals for its new Model 3 sedan. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company made 2,425 Model 3s in the fourth quarter. That’s only a fraction of the 20,000 per month that CEO Elon Musk once promised. But the company exceeded its overall sales targets, delivering 101,312 Model S sedans and Model X SUVs in 2017, up 33 percent over 2016. Spotify will go public. Spotify filed confidentially to go public on the New York Stock Exchange, forging ahead with a plan to skip a traditional share sale and list its stock directly, according to a person familiar with the matter. Axios reported the filing Wednesday.