Woman’s License Mistakenly Marked ‘Sexual Predator’
A Florida woman took her children to Disney World for a fun weekend, but was denied service at the hotel. When she asked why she was not allowed to stay there, she was shocked by the response. Now, the mother is taking legal action.
Tammy Lemasters was denied service at Disney World and when she asked why, she was told it was because her driver’s license listed her as a sexual predator, the New York Daily News reports. She was shocked by the revelation, as she has no history of any such crime.
“I was afraid to drive in my car,” Lemasters told The Associated Press. “I was afraid of getting pulled over. I was afraid of the kids being in the car.”
Lemasters is now planning to file a lawsuit against the Lake County Tax Collector’s office for defamation after she says a computer glitch caused the phrase “sexual predator” to be printed on her license, according to the Daily News.
“It reminds me of the book, ‘The Scarlet Letter,'” said Lemasters’ attorney John Phillips. “She walked around with that on her license, not knowing where it had been reported. This is completely, completely avoidable by just putting in some sort of default on the computer.”
Phillips says an office clerk had checked off “yes” for “sexual predator” rather than “organ donor” while filling out forms on a computer.
The error caused Lemasters to be denied service from a hotel and detained at Disney World for three hours, according to the Orlando Sentinel. The mother and her fiancé told employees at Disney World that the stamp was a mistake, but were held while employees contacted the authorities regardless.
The manager of the Lake County Tax Collector’s office David Jordan said the issue was due to a human error from a “top-notch” worker, the Daily News reports.
“We made a mistake. Period,” Jordan said. “We feel horrible. It totally stinks it happens. Everybody involved feels terrible. We offer our apologies. We offered it immediately.”
Lemasters says she didn’t notice the stamp on her ID and didn’t think to check for a mark identifying her as a sexual predator.
“They asked me to check my name and address, and that’s what I checked,” she said, the Orlando Sentinel reports. “The sexual-predator box is in the lower corner, and she had her finger there. I just took it and put it in my wallet. No one checks for ‘sexual predator’ on your license.”
Phillips says the goal of Lemasters’ lawsuit is not to be paid, but rather to prevent the problem from happening to others.He says that if the agency agrees to make changes in its system to prevent the problem from reoccurring, the lawsuit will not be filed.
What about the people with a CDL that is a Federal Lic. thus they are marking the federal lic. compeled speach!
I recently moved to Florida and signed up for annual passes to Disney World for my wife and I. Part of that process is to submit your ID information. When we arrived at Disney that morning, I was detained and issued the trespass warning. Disney claimed that they use facial recognition software and that’s how they knew that I am on the registry. I believe they just looked it up on the initial application. I had been at Disney the previous fall with my grandson and wasn’t stopped.
I won’t go back to Disney obviously, but I plan on attending Universal Studios and Bush Gardens, just not signing up for the annual passes.
By the way, I pled to a misdemeanor in Alabama but am on the registry here in Florida which is considered a felony. I am waiting for the letter from the state denying me the right to vote!
So did you get to use your annual passes at all?
No, they refunded all of our money. After I got the trespass order we just left, didn’t feel up to spending my money in their place of business any longer!
Were the passes under your name or your wifes? I’ve had mine since april after i upgraded from a 3 day Florida resident pass. I’ve used mine twice. And we will again in September. My passes are under my wifes account.
They were under my name, which was the problem of course. If we go back, we will just purchase daily tickets where no ID is required. I am certain they don’t use facial recognition software anyway.
So, I guess the thing to do, is if you are going to get the special Florida passes for Disney World. Then I should have them in my wifes name, and there won’t be a problem, Right?
I can’t answer that question, I don’t really know. If I remember correctly they want the names of everyone who is going to be on the passes, so they may discover it that way.
that is interesting – when I have purchased passes for others that person still had to show their ID (because of the FL resident thing) –
and they don’t require to have the other people on the account to show their ID’s?
yes they do, at least they did when we went to the main gate to get our passes, wife had to show her ID and so did I – that’s when the security came out to the ticket window and “escorted” me to their secure facility – while we waited on the deputy sheriff to arrive.
I can tell you with 100% certainty Disney does not have facial recognition software that “pegged” you. That was a lie. They have been “playing” with the idea of using facial recognition in some of their resorts for the convenience of guests but it is voluntary and most guests are opting out.
I figured they were lying when they showed me a copy of the registration. It is their business they can run it as they seem fit to do. Just without my patronage.
Isn’t it ironic that one can get a pass under someone else’s name and it is OK for the RSO to enter the park, but if the RSO uses his/her name it is not OK? Just another example of how stupid these rules are. I used to own Disney stock but I sold it and today would not give Disney a penny of my hard earned money.