$10M Target Data Breach Settlement Obtains Final Approval

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On Tuesday, a federal judge in Minnesota gave final approval to the $10 million class action settlement to resolve claims related to Target’s infamous 2013 data breach. Up to 110 million consumers were estimated to have had their personal data potentially compromised with the release of credit and debit card information.

This decision was reached shortly after the results of the claims review were presented earlier this month.

The Target data breach settlement Class includes: “All persons in the United States whose credit or debit card information and/or whose personal information was compromised as a result of the date breach that was first disclosed by Target on December 9, 2013.”

In total, the settlement Class notice was said to have reached 80 million people, with 61 million consumers receiving a direct notice sent by the settlement administrators. Of the notices sent out, 386 consumers requested exclusion and 11 individuals objected to the terms of the settlement.

Of those who objected, many said the attorneys’ fees were too high and most said that the settlement amount was too low, or both. Judge Magnuson said, “In the Court’s view, the settlement represents a significant victory for a class whose legal claims are as tenuous as those here.”

The original class action lawsuits were filed shortly after Target disclosed the data breach in late 2013. As a result of a large number of lawsuits being filed against Target, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation consolidated the original 33 class action lawsuits in April of 2014. The cases were heard in a federal court in Minnesota, the home of Target’s headquarters.

The Target data breach lawsuits asserted claims of negligence and violations of state consumer protection laws and plaintiffs claimed that they were forced to pay unlawful charges, experienced blocked or restricted access to their financial accounts and had difficulty paying other bills. They also claimed to have been made to pay unfair late charges for untimely payments due to the alleged involvement of the Target data breach as well as pay fees when new cards were issued.

The $10 million settlement received preliminary approval in March 2015. After the preliminary approval of the Target data breach class action settlement, consumers were invited to submit Claim Forms from April until July 31, 2015 to be included in the Target data breach settlement.

Judge Magnuson summarized, “Further litigation in this case would undoubtedly be expensive and complex. The legal issues involved are cutting-edge and unsettled, so that many resources would necessarily be spent litigating substantive law as well as other issues. The early settlement of this case benefits the plaintiff class immensely, and this factor weighs heavily in favor of the settlement.”

The plaintiffs are represented by Heins Mills & OLson PLC, Nichols Kaster PLLP, Morgan & Morgan Complex Litigation Group PA, Girard Gibbs LLP, Milberg LLP, Chestnut Cambronne PA and Steuve Siegel Hanson LLP, among others.

The Target Data Breach Class Action Lawsuit MDL is In re: Target Corp. Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, Case No. 0:14-md-02522, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.

UPDATE: On Jan. 27, 2016, an objection to the $10 million Target data breach class action lawsuit settlement deal was dismissed by the 8th Circuit on appeal.

UPDATE 2: On Apr. 21, 2016, plaintiffs in the multidistrict litigation against Target Corp. over the infamous 2013 data breach are asking the Eighth Circuit Court to ignore claims made by an objector in the settlement.

UPDATE 3: On Feb. 1, 2017, the Eighth Circuit Court of appeals reversed the class certification and directed the district court to make a new ruling and explain its findings. According to the settlement website, claims will not be paid until class certification is resolved. This could take several more months. Please keep checking Top Class Actions for updates. We are following the case and will let our viewers know as soon as the class certification decision is made!

UPDATE 4: On Aug. 22, 2019, Top Class Actions viewers started getting checks from the Target data breach class action settlement worth as much as $1,201.88. Congratulations to everyone who filed a claim and got PAID!