Anne Bucher  |  February 23, 2022

Category: Data Breach

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Morley Data Breach Class Action Lawsuit Overview:

  • Who: Plaintiff Kenneth Ratcliff filed a class action lawsuit against Morley Companies Inc.
  • Why: Ratcliff alleges Morley failed to safeguard data, causing personal identifying information and personal health information to be compromised in an August 2021 data breach.
  • Where: The Morley data breach class action lawsuit was filed in Michigan federal court.

Morley Companies Inc.’s failure to secure and safeguard private and confidential information caused it to be vulnerable to hackers, according to a data breach class action lawsuit filed Feb. 18 in Michigan federal court.

Morley provides services to businesses and maintains personal information of employees, former employees and its clients.

Plaintiff Kenneth Ratcliff, a former Morley employee, filed the data breach class action lawsuit on behalf of himself and a proposed class of more than 521,000 others whose private information was allegedly exposed in an August 2021 data breach.

He says he received a letter dated Jan. 26 from Morley notifying him that his personal identifying information and personal health information may have been exposed in the data breach.

The information allegedly compromised includes names, addresses, birthdates, Social Security numbers, medical diagnostic and treatment information, and health insurance information.

Ratcliff says that he would not have agreed to provide Morley with his private information had he known the company did not adequately protect the data.

In August 2021, an unauthorized individual reportedly gained access to Morley’s network systems. Although Morley knew the data breach exposed personal and confidential information, the company allegedly did not begin to notify data breach victims until six months had passed.

Morley Data Breach Puts Victims At Risk of Identity Theft

The Morley data breach has put victims at risk of identity theft, Ratcliff says.

“PHI [personal health information] is particularly valuable and has been referred to as a ‘treasure trove for criminals,’” the Morley data breach class action states. 

Ratcliff points to a study by Experian that found that the average total cost of medical identity theft costs about $20,000 per incident. Further, Experian allegedly found that most medical identity theft victims had to pay out-of-pocket costs for health care services they did not receive to restore health insurance coverage.

Criminals with access to a person’s personal information can cause significant damage that is difficult for victims to undo. Criminals can obtain official identification cards in the victim’s name and use the victim’s name and Social Security number to obtain government benefits or file a fraudulent tax return. 

It can take years for a person to discover that they are victims of identity theft, and it often takes more than a month to resolve issues related to identity theft. In some cases, it can take more than a year to resolve identity theft issues, the Morley class action lawsuit alleges.

Ratcliff is seeking monetary and injunctive relief on behalf of himself and the proposed class.

Were you affected by the Morley data breach? Let us know what you think of this class action lawsuit in the comments below!

Ratcliff is represented by Nicholas A. Coulson and Lance Spitzig of Liddle Sheets Coulson PC; Ben Barnow, Anthony L. Parkhill and Riley W. Prince of Barnow and Associates PC; and by Andrew W. Ferich, Tina Wolfson and Robert Ahdoot of Ahdoot & Wolfson PC.

The Morley Data Breach Class Action Lawsuit is Kenneth Ratcliff v. Morley Companies Inc., Case No. 1:22-cv-10360, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.


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60 thoughts onMorley Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over Data Breach

  1. Carol Brawner says:

    Please add me to the list , I received your post card , and will make sure to it.

  2. linda says:

    Got a post card to file for settletment

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