Christina Spicer  |  April 9, 2018

Category: Consumer News

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Panera class action lawsuitPopular food chain Panera has been hit with a class action lawsuit over an alleged data breach that may have affected millions of customers.

The plaintiffs are residents of Illinois, Tennessee, and Minnesota who claim in their class action lawsuit that their personally identifying information used in conjunction with their MyPanera and/or their Panera Rewards accounts was exposed in a breach that the company has still not reported to the public.

According to the Panera class action lawsuit, on April 2, 2018, Krebs on Security reported that Panera’s website had been subject to an unknown eight-month leak that exposed the names, emails, addresses, birthdays, and last four digits of customers’ credit cards.

The report indicated that Panera was aware of the problem, but refused to do anything about it, say the plaintiffs.

Those with Panera customer loyalty accounts were further exposed, allege the plaintiffs citing the Krebs report, because hackers could use their prepaid accounts using the information exposed by Panera’s website.

“Panera has not fully disclosed the data leak on its website as of the time of the filing of this civil action,” alleges the Panera data breach class action lawsuit. “Upon information and belief, Panera has taken no other efforts since discovering the security breach to inform customers that their Personal Identifying Information was leaked and/or compromised.”

According to the Panera class action lawsuit, Panera has about 2,000 locations, serving millions of customers. The plaintiffs say that they and other customers face an increased risk of identity theft that will last for years because of the data breach.

Risks include fraudulent and unreimbursed credit card charges. Further, says the Panera class action, it often takes those affected by identity theft months or even years to solve the problem.

“It takes time for consumers to fix and repair their credit after it has been compromised by nefarious third parties,” points out the Panera class action lawsuit. Additionally, there is often a lag time between when consumers’ personal information is exposed and when it is actually used for fraudulent purposes.

According to the Kreb report cited in the Panera class action, Panera placed consumers’ personal information on the internet in an insecure manner. The plaintiffs say that the company had been warned about the risk of breach by both security experts and its own customers who reported suspicious activity related to the Panera rewards accounts; however, the company failed to protect consumers’ data.

“Panera’s wrongful actions and inaction directly and proximately caused the, display, disclosure, leakage, theft and dissemination into the public domain of Plaintiffs’ and Class Members’ Personal Identifying Information,” alleges the Panera data breach class action lawsuit.

The plaintiffs seek to represent a nationwide Class as well as statewide Classes based on their locations. The plaintiffs claim that Panera violated state laws, including Illinois Personal Information Protection Act, breach of contract, negligence, and consumers’ right to privacy.

The Panera customers are seeking damages, as well as a court order requiring Panera to disclose the breach and use appropriate methods to protect consumer data.

The plaintiffs are represented by James C. Vlahakis of the Sulaiman Law Group Ltd.

The Panera Data Breach Class Action Lawsuit is Boykin, et al. v. Panera Bread Company, Case No. 1:18-cv-02461, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.

UPDATE: On June 5, 2018, the plaintiffs who filed a data breach class action lawsuit against Panera Bread Company have agreed to voluntarily dismiss their case saying they weren’t actually harmed by the cyberattack. 

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228 thoughts onPanera Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over Data Breach

  1. NORMAN GUINN says:

    Add me.

    1. Top Class Actions says:

      The case is still moving through the courts and has not yet reached a settlement. Claim forms are usually not made available to consumers until after a court approved settlement is reached. Setting up a free account with Top Class Actions will allow you to receive instant updates on ANY article that you ‘Follow’ on our website. A link to creating an account may be found here: https://topclassactions.com/signup/. You can then ‘Follow’ the article above, and get notified immediately when we post updates!

  2. Joy McNeill says:

    Please add me to receive updates, thanks!

  3. Michael Halperin says:

    THEY ALWAYS WANT THAT INFO BEFORE U EVEN ORDER OR THINKING WHAT U WANT TO EAT I NEED TO COLLECT MY DAMAGES TODAY!!!!

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