Ashley Madison Data Breach Class Action Settlement Checks Arrive

Checks have reportedly been sent to Class Members of the Ashley Madison data breach settlement. The highest amount reported so far is $2,915.

If you filed a claim for the Ashley Madison class action settlement, you may soon be receiving your cash payment.

The Ashley Madison data breach settlement resolves a class action lawsuit over allegations hackers broke into the extramarital dating website’s computer network, obtained information about the site’s users, and posted the Ashley Madison users’ personal information online.

Several Ashley Madison class action lawsuits were filed after the data breach was announced in June 2015. They were consolidated into multidistrict litigation in Missouri federal court under the title In re: Ashley Madison Customer Data Security Breach.

The Ashley Madison data breach class action lawsuits accused defendants Avid Life Media Inc. (now renamed as Ruby Corporation), Avid Dating Life (now renamed as Ruby Life), and Avid’s former CEO Noel Biderman of failing to properly secure the personal information of the Ashley Madison dating site users.

The Ashley Madison class action lawsuit also challenged Ashley Madison’s “full delete” or “paid delete” services, which purportedly would remove all traces of a member’s usage. The plaintiffs claim that these promises were false, and that users who paid for these services still had their personal information exposed in the Ashley Madison data breach.

Additionally, the Ashley Madison data breach class action lawsuit claimed that some user profiles were fake and used bots to engage with real users of the website. Users who engaged with these fake profiles allegedly believed they were real people and paid to communicate with them by purchasing and spending credits.

The Ashley Madison defendants agreed to pay as much as $11.2 million to settle the data breach class action lawsuit. Eligible Class Members who provided supporting documentation were eligible to submit a claim for up to $3,500 in benefits.

Class Members of the Ashley Madison data breach settlement included anyone in the United States who used Ashley Madison on or before July 20, 2015.

The deadline to file a claim for the Ashley Madison data breach class action settlement passed on Jan. 2, 2018.

Congratulations to our Top Class Actions readers who submitted a valid claim and got PAID! If you missed out, sign up for our free newsletter to receive updates on new class action lawsuits and settlements. You can also check out which class action settlements are still accepting claims in our Open Class Action Settlements section.

Class Members are represented by Douglas P. Dowd of Dowd & Dowd PC, John J. Driscoll of The Driscoll Firm PC, and by W. Lewis Garrison Jr. of Heninger Garrison Davis LLC.

The Ashley Madison Data Breach Class Action Lawsuit is In re: Ashley Madison Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, Case No. 4:15-md-02669, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.