Employer, insurer can be told of DUI license suspensions

A state appeals court says a motorist's employer and insurer can be notified that their driver's license has been suspended for driving while drunk, even if the driver has not been criminally prosecuted or convicted.

The Department of Motor Vehicles' practice of disclosing the reason for the license suspension to a driver's current or prospective employer, insurance company and others who have requested the information had been blocked by an Alameda County Superior Court judge, who ruled that it violated the right to privacy.

The 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco disagreed Friday, saying privacy rights protect a driver from disclosure of information related to an arrest but not from a license suspension.

Although drivers are usually arrested before being tested for alcohol, the court said, their licenses can be suspended only after an independent investigation by a branch of the DMV. And the fact that a driver has been arrested is not, by itself, enough evidence of wrongdoing to justify a license suspension, Justice Mark Simons said in the 3-0 ruling.

While an officer can arrest a driver based on "probable cause" of driving while drunk, Simons said, the DMV must meet a more-demanding standard to suspend the driver's license, requiring a showing of wrongdoing by a preponderance, or majority, of the evidence. And unlike someone facing arrest, he said, a driver can challenge a license suspension in advance with an appeal to a DMV office.

"The rights to privacy set out in our state Constitution and various statutes are among our most cherished. But they are not without limit," Simons wrote.

Licenses can be suspended for between four months and three years, depending on the nature of the wrongful conduct and the driver's record. Suspensions for driving influenced by alcohol, without a criminal prosecution or conviction, remain on the driver's record for three years after the license is restored. Suspensions for criminal convictions of drunken driving can be disclosed for up to 10 years.

The suit challenging disclosure of the reasons for a license suspension was filed by anonymous plaintiffs in 2016. After a nonjury trial, Superior Court Judge Brad Seligman barred the DMV in February 2022 from issuing the disclosures.

Under state law, employers of some commercial drivers, such as cab and bus drivers, taxi drivers and tractor-trailer operators, receive their DMV records each year and are notified of any driving-related conviction, suspension or accident, the court said. Those businesses are subject to criminal prosecution for employing a driver with a suspended license.

Other employers and insurers with legitimate business needs for the records can set up accounts with the DMV to obtain them. The records can also be requested by others who need them for business purposes or in connection with a legal case.

Friday's ruling entitles those users to learn the reason for a license suspension if it was alcohol-related. The court said witnesses testified they had been denied jobs -- for example, as an Uber driver, and as a receptionist who was required to drive from one job site to another -- after disclosure that their licenses had been suspended for driving while drunk.

Reach Bob Egelko: [email protected]; Twitter: @BobEgelko