Last week, a federal court in Atlanta issued an order preliminarily approving a proposed settlement – valued up to $19.5 million – of the consumer claims arising from the 2014 theft of payment card data from Home Depot. The cash and noncash terms of the proposed settlement are unexceptional. What is unusual about this settlement is its… Continue Reading
Class Action Litigation
Subscribe to Class Action Litigation RSS FeedRinging Off The Hook: TCPA Issues Still At Forefront As Calendar Turns To 2016
Posted in Class Action Litigation, Federal Communications Commission, Privacy Regulation, US Supreme CourtWe may only be three weeks into 2016, but the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) has already received a considerable amount of attention this year. Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court determined in Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez, that a defendant could not cut off a TCPA class action lawsuit by making an offer of settlement to the… Continue Reading
Massachusetts Court: Patients Have Standing to Sue for Data Breach Based on Data Exposure Alone
Posted in Class Action Litigation, Privacy Litigation, UncategorizedA Massachusetts Superior Court judge held that a plaintiff has standing to sue for money damages based on the mere exposure of plaintiff’s private information in an alleged data breach. The court concluded that the plaintiff had pleaded a “real and immediate risk” of injury despite failing to allege that any unauthorized persons had even… Continue Reading
Target and Card Issuers Reach Final Data Breach Settlement
Posted in Class Action Litigation, Data Breach, Privacy LitigationTwo years after the massive holiday season theft of customers’ payment card data from Target point of sale terminals, the Target data breach litigation appears to be entering its final act. On Tuesday, December 1, Target entered into a settlement agreement with a class of banks and financial institutions that issued the credit and debit… Continue Reading
Standing Issues Could Still Derail Google Cookie Placement Litigation
Posted in Class Action Litigation, Privacy LitigationIn a decision almost a year in the making, the Third Circuit’s recent opinion in In re Google Inc. Cookie Placement Privacy Litig. (3d Cir. Nov. 10, 2015), (“Google”), reversed a trial court order dismissing a lawsuit alleging that Google and other internet advertising companies circumvented cookie-blocking technology in Safari and Internet Explorer web browsers. … Continue Reading
Data Breach Planning in 10 Easy Steps: How to Think Like A Litigator
Posted in Class Action Litigation, Data Compliance & Security, Events and Webinars, Privacy Litigation, Privacy MondayFor the first Monday in November, we have 10 easy steps to make sure that your data breach incident response planning is viewed from that pesky point of view of a litigator. Fail to plan = plan to fail. Big problems first, small problems later (don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good)…. Continue Reading
Wednesday Webinar: Tricks, But No Treats – A Halloween Visit to the Frightening World of Data Security Litigation
Posted in Class Action Litigation, Cybersecurity, Data Breach, Events and Webinars, Privacy Litigation, SecurityTo take a step back from our continuing analysis of the situation and developments in Europe, there are other things going on in the privacy and data security world! Our October Wednesday Webinar is coming up and we will take a walk on the wild side: data security litigation. Registration is open now! Read more –
Strike Suit Offers Conjectures, And Little More, About Scottrade Data Breach
Posted in Class Action Litigation, Cybersecurity, Data Breach, Data Breach Notification, Identity Theft, Privacy LitigationAs reported on Friday in the Krebs on Security blog, online broker Scottrade had sent an e-mail to customers earlier that day stating that it recently had learned from law enforcement officials that Scottrade was one of a number of financial services companies that had been victimized by data thieves. That very same day saw… Continue Reading
Sony: Stipulation Announces (but does not disclose) Employee Data Breach Class Settlement
Posted in Class Action Litigation, Data Breach, Employee Privacy, Identity Theft, Privacy LitigationThis Is The End? Settlement appears imminent in an employee class action against Sony Pictures Entertainment (“SPE”) arising from disclosure of their personally identifiable information (“PII”) in a massive data breach allegedly perpetrated by North Korean hackers in retaliation for SPE’s release of “The Interview,” a satirical comedy depicting an attempt on the life of… Continue Reading
Banks’ Class Certification Motion Trumpets Target Data Security Failings, Ignores Impact of Card Association Settlements
Posted in Class Action Litigation, Data Breach, Privacy LitigationCard-issuing banks are forging ahead with their lawsuit against Target arising from the 2013 holiday shopping season data breach. Their July 1 motion for class certification has just been unsealed, allowing a glimpse at plaintiffs’ version of the events during November and December 2013 that resulted in theft of payment card data for 40 million Target… Continue Reading
Breaking News: Target to Settle Data Breach Claims of Visa Card Issuers for $67 Million
Posted in Class Action Litigation, Data Breach, Privacy LitigationTarget has announced that it has entered into a settlement with Visa to resolve claims of issuers of Visa credit and debit cards arising from Target’s November 2013 data breach. The proposed settlement will pay issuers of Visa payment cards up to $67 million to reimburse losses associated with the theft of card numbers from… Continue Reading
Neiman Marcus Chides Seventh Circuit Panel
Posted in Class Action Litigation, Data Breach, Privacy LitigationNeiman Marcus Petition Claims that Seventh Circuit Decision Invents Harm to Find Standing to Bring Data Breach Claims Retailer Neiman Marcus has filed a petition seeking en banc review by the entire Seventh Circuit of the decision by a three-judge panel of that court in Remijas v. Neiman Marcus Group, LLC reversing dismissal of consumer data… Continue Reading
Data Breach = Class Action Suit. Again.
Posted in Class Action Litigation, Data Breach, Data Breach Notification, HIPAA/HITECHOriginally posted in Mintz Levin’s Health Law & Policy Matters Blog Written by Jordan Cohen In yet another data breach affecting millions of individuals, UCLA Health System (“UCLA”) reported on Friday – July 17, 2015 – that hackers had accessed portions of its health network that contained personal information, including names, addresses, dates of birth, social security numbers, medical record… Continue Reading
Change in the Prevailing Winds in Consumer Data Breach Cases?
Posted in Class Action Litigation, Data Breach, Privacy LitigationSeventh Circuit Rules Consumers Have Standing to Sue in Neiman Marcus Payment Card Data Breach Case In Remijas v. Neiman Marcus Group, LLC, the Seventh Circuit reversed a district court decision dismissing consumer payment card data breach claims for lack of standing. The appellate panel held that injuries consisting of 1) lost time and money resolving… Continue Reading
Home Depot Moves to Dismiss Bank Data Breach Claims on Standing and Ripeness Grounds
Posted in Class Action Litigation, Data Breach, Privacy LitigationIn its recently-filed motion to dismiss claims of card-issuing banks arising from the September 2014 theft of payment card data from Home Depot point of sale terminals, Home Depot employs an approach typically used to respond to consumer claims. In payment card data breach cases, defendants typically argue that consumers lack standing to sue because card… Continue Reading
Data Breach Affects Millions of Current and Former Government Workers
Posted in Class Action Litigation, Data Breach, Data Compliance & Security, Employee Privacy, Identity Theft, Privacy Litigation, SecurityThe U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced that hackers have stolen the personal information of approximately 4 million current and former federal employees, including names, birthdates and social security numbers. OPM serves as the human resources department -and holds employee records – for the entire federal government, ranging from security clearances to the identities… Continue Reading
Home Depot Moves to Dismiss Consumer Data Breach Claims for Lack of Standing
Posted in Class Action Litigation, Data Breach, Privacy LitigationHome Depot has staked its defense of consumer claims arising from the 2014 theft of payment card data from the home improvement retailer on the asserted absence of injuries sufficient to confer standing to sue. Because consumers rarely sustain out-of-pocket losses when their payment card numbers are stolen, lack of standing is typically the primary… Continue Reading
Failure to Obtain Required Retailer Approval Scuttles Target-MasterCard Data Breach Settlement
Posted in Class Action Litigation, Data Breach, Privacy LitigationTarget’s attempt to resolve claims of MasterCard-issuing banks through a $19 million private settlement with MasterCard has been terminated for failure of issuers of 90% of the affected cards to accept the settlement by the Wednesday, May 20 acceptance deadline. Press reports on Friday, May 22 indicated that both Target and MasterCard had confirmed that… Continue Reading
Judge in Target Data Breach Litigation Declines to Block MasterCard Settlement
Posted in Class Action Litigation, Data BreachSenior U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson issued an order on Thursday, May 7 denying a request by counsel for card issuer banks to enjoin the settlement of data breach related claims negotiated between Target and MasterCard. As we have previously reported, the proposed settlement would provide compensation to MasterCard-issuing banks for fraud losses and… Continue Reading
Target and Card Issuers Dispute Use of MasterCard Settlement to Resolve Data Breach Claims
Posted in Class Action Litigation, Cybersecurity, Data Breach, Privacy LitigationIn the wake of Target’s April 15 announcement of a private $19 million settlement of the data breach claims of MasterCard-issuing banks, counsel representing the putative card issuer class in the consolidated Target data breach litigation moved to enjoin the proposed settlement, arguing that it is an improper end-run around the Minnesota federal court’s adjudication… Continue Reading
UPDATE: Target Confirms It Has Negotiated A $19 Million Data Breach Settlement With MasterCard
Posted in Class Action Litigation, Data Breach, Privacy LitigationTarget confirmed a report in the Wednesday edition of The Wall Street Journal of a settlement with MasterCard concerning claims of card-issuers arising from Target’s 2013 data breach. The data breach, which occurred during the post-Thanksgiving holiday shopping season, compromised over 40 million credit and debit cards used to make purchases at Target stores. The… Continue Reading
Report: Target Close To $20M Data Breach Settlement With Master Card
Posted in Class Action Litigation, Data Breach, Privacy LitigationAccording to a report published today in The Wall Street Journal, Target and MasterCard are close to reaching a settlement of the claims of MasterCard-issuing institutions in connection with Target’s 2013 data breach. The settlement would reimburse the cost of reissuing debit and credit cards compromised by the breach, as well as a portion of… Continue Reading
Precedent and the Price Explain Why Target and the Consumer Class Agreed to an Early Data Breach Settlement
Posted in Class Action Litigation, Data Breach, Data Breach Notification, Privacy Litigation, UncategorizedOn March 18, 2015 – just three months after denial of a motion to dismiss consumer claims arising from Target’s 2013 data breach – Target and the consumer class filed papers seeking approval of a settlement. The proposed settlement agreement creates a $10 million cash fund to be paid out to class members claiming actual damages arising from… Continue Reading
Target Data Breach Price Tag: $252 Million and Counting
Posted in Class Action Litigation, Cybersecurity, Data Breach, Data Breach Notification, Privacy LitigationIn a recently-released Form 8-K filing announcing fourth quarter and year-end financial results, Target Corporation reported that expenses incurred in 2014 relating to its 2013 data breach totaled over $191 million. Those expenses were offset by $46 million in insurance proceeds, resulting in a $145 million charge against Target’s 2014 operating results. The expenses incurred… Continue Reading
