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Law

Exotic Dancers In Tacoma Say Public Records Release Would Violate Their Privacy

Women who work at Dream Girls at Foxes, a strip club in Tacoma, don’t want Pierce County to release personal information about them. They say doing so would violate their right to privacy.

But the Pierce County auditor says Washington’s Public Records Act requires her to release information contained in the women’s business licenses on file with the county. Man Asked For Public Records On Strippers

U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Leighton will hear the case in federal court in Tacoma Thursday. Earlier this month, he issued a temporary restraining order to prevent the release of the records until a hearing could be scheduled.

The case stems out of a request from an Auburn man, David Van Vleet. He requested access to the business licenses of the 70 dancers and managers at Dream Girls at Foxes, which is on Pacific Avenue in Parkland. The county requires exotic dancers, who work as independent contractors, to have “adult entertainment licenses.”

Van Vleet has not said why he wants to see the licenses. 

Lawyer Says Release Would Violate Strippers Rights

An attorney for the strippers, Gilbert Levy, says the licenses contain information such as birth dates, stage and legal names and photos that could allow someone to track down the women and harass them or their family members.

He says releasing the information would violate their constitutional right to privacy. He also says it could violate their First Amendment right to freedom of speech if, for example, the women are forced to quit working because they fear for their safety because the information has been released.

Auditor Bound By Public Records Act

Pierce County Auditor Julie Anderson says she is required, under Washington’s Public Records Act, to release the information unless a judge rules otherwise.

“We’re just waiting for a red light, a green light or a yellow light. It could be any three of those things. A judge could certainly come back and ask us to redact certain portions of the records, could tell us to withhold the records or tell us to release the records,” Anderson said.

She says the Public Records Act, while it doesn’t allow her to redact or withhold information on her own, does give her discretion to notify a third party when a request comes in. That’s what she did in this case. She let the exotic dancers know that a man had requested information contained in their business licenses. They were then able to go to court to stop the release.

“This is an example of the Public Records Act working the way it’s supposed to,” Anderson said.

Another requirement of the act, she says, is for a public records officer like herself to remain neutral on the possible motives of the person requesting the records.  

Paula is a former host, reporter and producer who retired from KNKX in 2021. She joined the station in 1989 as All Things Considered host and covered the Law and Justice beat for 15 years. Paula grew up in Idaho and, prior to KNKX, worked in public radio and television in Boise, San Francisco and upstate New York.