PHILADELPHIA – Counsel for three class action plaintiffs who accused The Philadelphia Inquirer of not doing enough to prevent and protect against a data breach have motioned for approval of a preliminary settlement in the case for $525,000.
Plaintiff Sheree Mosley (individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated) first filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on May 16 versus The Philadelphia Inquirer, PBC and The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC.
The suit arose from a recent data breach involving the Philadelphia-based newspaper and media company. The plaintiffs alleged that the company failed to adequately secure and safeguard personally identifiable information (PII) collected as part of its regular business practices.
The compromised data included names and Social Security numbers of just over 25,000 individuals. It alleged that the company did not encrypt or redact this sensitive information, leading to its compromise due to negligent and careless acts and omissions by the defendant.
The lawsuit accused the defendant of negligence, recklessness and violation of federal and state statutes for failing to properly safeguard employees’ PII, provide timely notice of the data breach, implement adequate security measures, prevent unauthorized disclosure of data and follow appropriate protocols for data encryption.
Plaintiffs claimed they have suffered invasion of privacy, theft of their PII, lost or diminished value of PII, lost time and opportunity costs associated with mitigating the consequences of the data breach, among other injuries.
(Similar actions brought against The Philadelphia Inquirer by plaintiffs Steven Hassell and Christopher Devine were later consolidated with Mosley’s case on July 23 and an amended, consolidated complaint was filed on July 31.)
Plaintiff counsel motioned for approval of a preliminary settlement on Aug. 22.
“Plaintiffs Mosley, Hassell and Devine and defendant The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC, with the assistance of a well-respected mediator, Bennett G. Picker of Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young, have reached an agreement to resolve this class action for a $525,000 non-reversionary common fund. Pursuant to the terms set forth in the parties’ settlement agreement, plaintiffs now respectfully submit this memorandum of law in support of the accompanying motion. The motion asks the Court to enter an order preliminarily approving the settlement, provisionally certifying the settlement class, and direct that notice of the settlement be disseminated to members of the class. Defendant does not oppose this motion or the relief sought in this motion,” the motion stated.
“The settlement provides that settlement class members may submit a claim for (1) Credit Monitoring and Insurance Services, which includes one year of three bureau credit monitoring services and $1 million in identity theft insurance and either: (2) up to $5,000 for reimbursement of documented losses; or, (3) a Cash Fund Payment. The settlement also provides for significant business practice changes tailored towards strengthening Philadelphia Inquirer’s data security measures. The settlement compares favorably with settlements in similar data breach litigation and was reached only after intensive arm’s length negotiations before a skilled and engaged mediator. It represents an especially outstanding result considering some of the legal and practical hurdles plaintiffs would have faced had the case proceeded to litigation – including that a large portion of the putative class is deceased. Also, Philadelphia Inquirer contends there was no evidence that the party responsible for the data incident (a ransomware shakedown) had ever actually viewed the information at issue. Accordingly, plaintiffs respectfully submit that the Court should preliminarily approve the terms and conditions of the settlement and permit notice to the settlement class.”
The plaintiffs are represented by Gary M. Klinger of Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman in Chicago; Terence R. Coates of Markovits Stock & De Marco, in Cincinnati; Benjamin F. Johns of Shub & Johns in West Conshohocken; Kenneth J. Grunfeld of Kopelowitz Ostrow Ferguson Weiselberg Gilbert in Bala Cynwyd; and Joe Kendall of Provost Umphrey, in Dallas.
The defendants are represented by Angelo A. Stio III of Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders, in Princeton, N.J.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case 2:24-cv-02106
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com