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Ashley Madison, the website marketed to married individuals who are seeking affairs, is potentially facing two separately filed $5 million class action lawsuits after a data breach released the personal information of its 37 million users.
The website’s parent company Avid Life confirmed the data breach that occurred on July 20 and Aug. 18 allegedly performed by the hacking group known as the Impact Team who warned Avid Life a month prior that it would release membership information if the websites Ashley Madison and Established Men were not shut down.
The Ashley Madison class action lawsuit recently filed in the state of California by a Los Angeles man referred to as John Doe is seeking $5 million on behalf of himself and potential Class Members alleging that the defendants could have prevented the massive data breach by using reasonable precautions. The data hack class action lawsuit states that this could have been avoided by Ashley Madison “encrypting the data entrusted to it by its users on a database level so that any information hacked and downloaded appeared in the encrypted format.”
The California Ashley Madison class action lawsuit is seeking compensatory and punitive damages for future Class Members who had their highly-sensitive personal, financial and identifying information released due to the hack. If approved, the lead plaintiff is seeking a National Class as well as a California Sub-Class.
Another Ashley Madison data hack class action lawsuit filed by a Texas man also referred to as John Doe is seeking financial compensation for potential Class Members who paid the $19 to have their information permanently deleted only to find that the defendant “broke such promise.”
The Texas lead plaintiff alleges that Ashley Madison violated the federal Stored Communications Act which states that “a person or entity providing an electronic communication service to the public shall not knowingly divulge to any person or entity the contents of a communication while in electronic storage by that service.”
He is seeking compensation for the emotional distress as well as the financial loss allegedly caused by the data hack.
About 27 percent of members to the so-called “reputable married dating company” are U.S. citizens. Ashley Madison is currently facing other class action lawsuits as well. According to media reports, Avid Life has been hit with a $578 million class action lawsuit filed in Canada, which is where the company is based.
In addition, the Toronto Police Service announced that Avid Life is offering a CA$500,000 reward for information that could lead to the arrest of the hackers responsible for the data breach.
The California plaintiff is represented by Julian Hammond, Polina Pecherskaya and Ari Cherniak of HammondLaw P.C.
The Texas plaintiff is represented by W. Lewis Garrison, Jr., Taylor Bartlett and James McDonough of Heninger Garrison Davis LLC and John T. Kirtley, III of Ferrer Poirot & Wansbrough.
The Ashley Madison Data Breach Class Action Lawsuits are Doe v. Avid Life Media Inc., et al., Case No. 2:15-cv-06405, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Western Division and Doe v. Avid Life Media Inc., Case No. 3:15-cv-02750, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
UPDATE: On Dec. 9, 2015, several class action lawsuits filed over the Ashley Madison data breach were consolidated in Missouri federal court.
UPDATE 2: On Apr. 6, 2016, a Missouri federal judge ruled that plaintiffs seeking to act as Class representatives in the Ashley Madison data breach class action lawsuit cannot use pseudonyms and must disclose their real names.
UPDATE 3: On June 24, 2016, in response to a recent federal court ruling, 18 plaintiffs who have filed suit against Ashley Madison over the highly-publicized data breach have amended their complaint to include their own names.
UPDATE 4: On July 14, 2017, Ashley Madison’s parent company agreed topay $11.2 million to settleclaims arising from a data breach that revealed personal information about those using the adultery dating website.UPDATE 5: The Ashley Madison data breach class action settlement is now open.
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5 thoughts onAshley Madison Faces 2 $5M Data Hack Class Action Lawsuits
UPDATE 4: On July 14, 2017, Ashley Madison’s parent company agreed to pay $11.2 million to settle claims arising from a data breach that revealed personal information about those using the adultery dating website.
UPDATE 3: On June 24, 2016, in response to a recent federal court ruling, 18 plaintiffs who have filed suit against Ashley Madison over the highly-publicized data breach have amended their complaint to include their own names.
UPDATE 2: On Apr. 6, 2016, a Missouri federal judge ruled that plaintiffs seeking to act as Class representatives in the Ashley Madison data breach class action lawsuit cannot use pseudonyms and must disclose their real names.
UPDATE: On Dec. 9, 2015, several class action lawsuits filed over the Ashley Madison data breach were consolidated in Missouri federal court.
I want signed up for this. My husband does not need to know I was on this site.