Illegal Divulging of my SS#

I am a resident of Michigan, however, this is about an offense that occurred in Texas.

Last year, my wife and I gave our Social Security numbers and other information to a company in Texas, in order to become a distributor of their products. An employee of the company, probably without the knowledge of the company, gave or sold my wife's information to a conspirator outside the company, who opened many fraudulent accounts, and created an identity theft nightmare for us. This came to light when the detective investigating our case found solid evidence that the employee had given or sold the information to this other person. I believe that the employee has since been fired.

We are wondering if we have grounds for a civil lawsuit against the company. Are they not legally responsible to protect the private information that they required us to give to them, which we gave with full expectation that it would not be divulged to others? Is the company liable for criminal actions of their employees when it involves harm done to the company's customers/distributors, using information given to the company?

Thanks for an opinionl.
Lyle Wood

[JETX]

Though you may have a slim (VERY slim) chance at trying to make them (the company) liable, reality says that it would be a waste of money. The problem is that the company (nor can ANYONE) guarantee the privacy of their records. You would have to prove that they were negligent or malicious in the handling of your information. And, unless you have an inside confirmation for the company policies and procedures, you will have to spend big bucks just trying to close this door.

Regretably, you have become a victim of Identity Theft (as have thousands of others) and now need to make every effort to eliminate any future 'releases' of your information. I suggest you look at the Identity Theft suggestions at the FTC ([url]http://www.ftc.gov/[/url]).