"Joe the Plumber" has lost his fight against the state of Ohio in a decision his attorney called a "frightening" green light for government officials to snoop into people's private information.
A judge dismissed the federal lawsuit Samuel "Joe" Wurzelbacher filed against the state and three state employees who accessed his confidential information, prompting a state investigation that concluded the searches were not illegal but did violate protocol.
Mr. Wurzelbacher, also known as "Joe the Plumber" since the 2008 election threw him into the public spotlight, claimed that Helen Jones-Kelley, Doug Thompson and Fred Williams, whom the suit says were supporters of Barack Obama's presidential campaign, violated his free-speech and privacy rights by running searches of confidential information.
The Air Force-trained plumber from the Toledo area became a symbol of American small-business owners after asking Mr. Obama how the candidate's tax plan would affect his ability to buy a small business. The video of the exchange went viral and Republican John McCain picked up his cause by making several references to “Joe the Plumber†during the third presidential debate.
The three government employees named in the suit were the top-ranking workers at the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, and had access to databases in multiple departments' databases.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/aug/5/joe-the-plumber-loses-suit-over-file-snooping/
