Bansley & Kiener data breach $900K class action settlement

Update:

• This class action settlement is paying out $61.15 as of March 13, 2023.

• Congratulations to everyone who filed a claim and got paid!

Accounting firm Bansley & Kiener agreed to a $900,000 settlement to resolve class action lawsuit claims it mismanaged a 2020 data breach by waiting a year to inform authorities.

The settlement benefits individuals who received a notification from Bansley & Kiener informing them their information may have been compromised in the 2020 data breach.

Bansley & Keiner is a CPA and advisory firm based in Chicago. In December 2021, the firm announced it experienced a data breach a year earlier, in December 2020. 

According to the data breach announcement, the firm responded to the breach by making cybersecurity improvements. However, in May 2021, Bansley & Keiner reportedly learned information had been taken from the system and shared externally and started an investigation. 

Affected consumers were participants in health, pension and other benefit plans Bansley & Keiner conducted payroll compliance for. Participant names and Social Security numbers may have been compromised in the data breach.

Participants took prompt legal action against Banley & Kiener, challenging the company’s repeated mistakes when handling the data breach. Plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit say the firm should have informed consumers earlier than a full year after the data breach and should have taken prompt action to investigate the breach instead of waiting months to do so.

“Bansley failed to provide timely, accurate and adequate notice to Plaintiffs and Class Members whose employers or other business entities retained Bansley to manage their payroll, pension, health insurance, personal health information, and/or other benefits,” the data breach class action lawsuit contends.

“Participants’ knowledge about what personal identifiable information Bansley lost, as well as precisely what types of information was unencrypted and in the possession of unknown third parties, was unreasonably delayed by Bansley’s unreasonable notification delay of approximately a year after it first learned of the data breach.”

Bansley & Kiener hasn’t admitted any wrongdoing but agreed to pay $900,000 to resolve these data breach allegations.

Under the terms of the settlement, class members can receive reimbursement for ordinary and extraordinary data breach expenses. 

Class members can claim up to $1,000 in ordinary out-of-pocket expenses such as bank fees, communication charges, credit report costs, credit monitoring, identity theft insurance and up to five hours of lost time at a rate of $25 per hour. 

Credit report fees, credit monitoring and identity theft insurance can only be reimbursed if purchased between Aug. 20 and Dec. 12, 2022. 

Larger payments of $5,000 are available for unreimbursed monetary losses resulting from identity theft and/or fraud connected to the settlement.

All class members can receive one year of identity theft protection services from the settlement, even if they did not experience out-of-pocket expenses resulting from the data breach. 

The deadline for exclusion and objection is Oct. 10, 2022. 

The final approval hearing for the settlement is scheduled for Nov. 17, 2022. 

In order to receive benefits from the data breach settlement, class members must submit a valid claim form by Dec. 12, 2022.

Who’s Eligible

The settlement benefits individuals who received a notification from Bansley & Kiener informing them their information may have been compromised in the 2020 data breach.

Potential Award

Varies 

Proof of Purchase

Copy of receipts or other proof of purchases

Claim Form

NOTE: If you do not qualify for this settlement do NOT file a claim.

Remember: you are submitting your claim under penalty of perjury. You are also harming other eligible Class Members by submitting a fraudulent claim. If you’re unsure if you qualify, please read the FAQ section of the Settlement Administrator’s website to ensure you meet all standards (Top Class Actions is not a Settlement Administrator). If you don’t qualify for this settlement, check out our database of other open class action settlements you may be eligible for.

Claim Form Deadline

12/12/2022

Case Name

Nelson v. Bansley & Kiener, L.L.P., Case No. 2021CH06274, in the Circuit Court First Judicial Circuit Cook County, Illinois

Final Hearing

11/17/2022

Settlement Website

B-KDataSettlement.com

Claims Administrator

Bansley Claims Administrator
PO Box 3654
Baton Rouge, LA 70821
info@B-Kdatasettlement.com
844-426-5046

Class Counsel

Terence R Coates
MARKOVITS STOCK & DEMARCO LLC

Defense Counsel

Christopher A Wiech
BAKER & HOSTETLER LLP