Litigation Proceeds In Target Data Breach Class Action Lawsuit

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UPDATE: A federal judge has preliminarily approved a $10 million class action settlement. Details on how to file a claim for the Target data breach settlement can be found here.

UPDATE 2: The Target data breach class action settlement received final approval on Nov. 17, 2015.

UPDATE 3: 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 4: 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 5: 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 6: On Aug. 22, 2019, Top Class Actions viewers started getting checks from the Target data breach class action settlementworth as much as $1,201.88.Congratulations to everyone who filed a claim and got PAID!

On Wednesday, Target Corp. filed a motion to dismiss the class action lawsuit arising from the massive data breach that occurred last year. Additionally, financial institutions filed a motion to oppose Target’s separate motion to dismiss them as plaintiffs to the data breach litigation.

Target filed a motion to dismiss the class action lawsuit alleging that the retail giant was culpable in the massive data breach that compromised the financial information of millions of Target customers in 2013. The consumer plaintiffs contend that Target did not provide adequate security measures to protect their financial information, leading to the 2013 data breach. The financial institution plaintiffs contend that Target should reimburse them for the costs of canceling and reissuing payment cards affected by the breach.

Target moved to dismiss the consumer plaintiffs’ claims on Wednesday arguing that the consumers lack standing to pursue their claims. “Plaintiffs lack standing to sue for violations of the laws of states in which none of them resides; they do not allege facts sufficient to show that any injuries could have been caused by the Intrusion; their allegations of future and present injuries do not establish standing; and they cannot show they are entitled to injunctive relief,” Target argues in its motion to dismiss the data breach class action lawsuit.

The financial instructions also filed a motion on Wednesday, arguing that both consumer and financial institutions do have standing in this litigation. The financial institutions contend that Target was negligent in protecting customer data and that its data security practices were insufficient and claim that Target had a policy of maintaining customer financial data for between 60 and 80 days, a violation of the Minnesota Plastic Card Security Act.

“According to Target,” the financial institutions argue in response to Target’s motion to dismiss the data breach class action lawsuit, “it has no liability whatsoever for the 2013 data breach (the ‘Breach’), regardless of its culpability.” The financial institutions characterize Target’s arguments to dismiss as follows: “Target says it owes nothing to its retail customers, asserting that those plaintiffs lack standing to sue because they are not the ones who lost money due to the Breach. … As for the financial institutions that, at a minimum, have spent tens of millions of dollars canceling and issuing new cards, Target claims it owes them no duty of care and has not violated Minnesota’s card data security law.”

“In Target’s view,” they continue, “it can reap 100% of the benefits of non-cash transactions, and bear 0% of the risks of exposure that necessarily accompany such transactions, even if its security is grossly deficient.” The financial institutions argue that Target should compensated them based on Target’s culpability in the breach. The financial institutions also point out that the 2013 data breach was examined in a congressional hearing.

The Target data breach class action lawsuit was consolidated into multidistrict litigation in Minnesota in April. The case is set for trial in 2016.

The consumer plaintiffs are represented by Stueve Siegel Hanson LLP, Milberg LLP,Girard Gibbs LLP, Nichols Kaster PLLP and Heins Mills & Olson PLC.

The financial institutions are represented by Zimmerman Reed PLLP, Lockridge Grindal Nauen PLLP, Chestnut Cambronne PA, Reinhardt Wendorf & Blanchfield, Barrett Law Group PA and others.

The Target Data Breach Class Action Lawsuit 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.