District Court grants final approval in data breach case

Courts Class Action Data Breach Privacy/Cyber Risk & Data Security Settlement

On January 4, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas granted final approval of a settlement in a class action resolving claims that a software company and its subsidiary (collectively, “defendants”) failed to properly safeguard customers' personally identifiable information (PII). According to the memorandum of law in support of the plaintiff’s motion for preliminary approval, the plaintiffs filed suit after a data breach of the defendant’s systems, alleging that defendant violated numerous states’ privacy and other laws by failing to keep their PII confidential and securely maintained. According to the plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary approval, the settlement establishes a settlement class of approximately 4,341,523 members whose PII was potentially compromised by the breach. The settlement would provide $2,000 for each named plaintiff and reimbursement of up to $5,000 of out-of-pocket expenses per class member, including up to eight hours of lost time at $25 per hour and 12 months of financial fraud protection. Additionally, more funds will be given to the California subclass, comprised of 318,091 individuals, who will receive between $100 and $300 in relief each. The defendants are also be required to pay attorneys’ fees and litigation costs and expenses.