PITTSBURGH — A website visitor has filed a class-action lawsuit against W. Atlee Burpee & Co., d/b/a Burpee, a seed company, citing an alleged violation of the Pennsylvania Wiretap Act and invasion of privacy – intrusion upon seclusion.
Jeff Hanlon filed a complaint on behalf of all others similarly situated in the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, alleging the seed company procured a third-party vendor, Navistone Inc., to intercept and record its website users’ communications with Burpee without their consent for the purpose of gathering visitors’ Personally Identifiable Information.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges he has visited the Burpee website on multiple occasions over the last six months while shopping for products offered by Burpee. He never purchased any products from Burpee, but has entered information into Burpee’s forms.
Through Burpee’s use of Navistone to wiretap its website communications, his IP address and PII were automatically and secretly intercepted while visiting Burpee’s website, the suit says. The plaintiff holds W. Atlee Burpee & Co., d/b/a Burpee, responsible because the defendant employed Navistone to intercept plaintiff and the putative class members’ electronic communications with Burpee.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks actual and consequential, statutory and/or punitive damages, declaratory and injunctive relief, pre- and post-judgment, attorneys' fees and costs. He is represented by Gary Lynch, Kelly Iverson and Jamisen Etzel of Carlson Lynch Sweet Kilpela & Carpenter LLP in Pittsburgh.