When a company fails to exercise reasonable care in protecting consumer information, affected customers may be able to unite against the company. Data breach class action lawsuits can net plaintiffs millions of dollars in damages, which is only fair given how devastating a breach can be to a person’s finances, privacy, reputation, and credit score.
Data breaches have become increasingly common over the past several years. In addition to consumers, these breaches can put a considerable burden on banks and credit card companies, which must respond to a flood of fraud claims and canceled cards. However, many data breach victims receive compensation for damages through multimillion-dollar settlements.
Marriott Hotels Class Action Lawsuit
On November 30, 2018, Marriott suffered a breach that may have compromised personal information of 500 million consumers. The breach affected customers who made reservations at Starwood properties.
The complaint alleged that Marriott failed to exercise reasonable care in safeguarding and protecting customers’ personal information (PII). Specifically, failing to design and maintain adequate security systems to protect user data.
Other Major Data Breach Settlements
In June 2017, America’s largest insurance company, Anthem Inc., agreed to a $115 million settlement after a breach compromised 80 million customers’ private data. This is the largest data breach settlement in history.
The previous year, in March 2016, Home Depot agreed to pay $19.5 million to consumers affected by its 2014 data breach ($13 million to reimburse shoppers for losses and $6.5 million toward identity protection services). A year later, Home Depot agreed to pay $25 million to several dozen banks and credit card companies, bringing its total breach-related expenses to $179 million.
Data Breach Lawsuits
Theirs is just one of many multimillion-dollar settlements that have been reached after data breaches. Sony paid $15 million to settle a data breach suit—and $8 million to settle another. Additionally, Target paid $10 million and LinkedIn $1.25 million to settle theirs.
In essence, an experienced attorney is the best judge of class action eligibility. The attorney will do the following:
- Determine if the company failed to adopt the appropriate safeguards that would have prevented the breach from occurring.
- Determine if the company notified customers as soon as possible after it learned of the breach.
- Obtain a complete list of all individuals involved.
- Review the company’s policies and customer agreements to determine if the company violated any of them.
An attorney will also determine if a corporation’s inability to protect its customers violated any state laws. If you meet the eligibility requirements, you could receive compensation for damages suffered from the data breach.
Data Breach Damages
Maginnis Howard’s data breach class action attorneys can help determine the damages you incurred and help you recuperate. These may include:
- The cost of replacing credit/debt cards and obtaining credit reports and credit insurance.
- Service fees charged by companies that will help secure personal information and monitor your accounts for fraudulent activity.
- Any out of pocket expenses that you incur as a result of the breach.
If your personal information has been breached and your identity has been compromised, Maginnis Law’s data breach class action attorneys would like to speak with you. You can reach our attorneys by phone at 919.526.0450, by email at info@maginnislaw.com, or through our contact page.
