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LOS ANGELES - On October 9, 2012, Loeb & Loeb won a protective order for a California-based credit union preventing the disclosure of 70,000 members’ personal information. The protective order was filed in response to certain members of the non-profit credit union seeking access to the credit union’s names, addresses, email addresses and telephone numbers by members in conjunction with a proposed charter change of the credit union to a mutual savings bank. The members who opposed the conversion demanded such information be provided to them pursuant to a non-profit statute governing disclosure of certain information under California’s Corporation Code, Section 8330. The credit union had previously offered members communication alternatives to address the charter change, including communicating via email through a third-party mail house, at the members’ expense, without disclosing any personal customer information. This alternative was rejected by the members and Loeb & Loeb filed the protective order to protect disclosure of such information. In addressing the protective order, California Superior Court Judge Patricia M. Lucas cited Section 8330(c) and ruled that the credit union had provided a “reasonable alternative method” for the conversion opponents to get their message across to the general membership.
“The evidence shows that the credit union has presented an alternative reasonable within the meaning of the statute, and therefore the petition is granted,” said the ruling.