Consumers file AT&T class actions following massive data breach

 AT&T data breach overview:

• Who: Plaintiffs Dina Winger, Richard Olivieri, Lauren Woon and Chris Schulte filed AT&T  class action lawsuits.
• Why: They allege AT&T’s failure to safeguard sensitive customer data adequately contributed to nearly 110 million wireless customers’ call and text information being compromised.
• Where: The AT&T class action lawsuits were filed in Texas, Montana and New Jersey federal courts.

Three AT&T class actions allege the telecommunications company failed to adequately protect its wireless customers’ information. That failure allegedly left the company vulnerable to hackers who accessed its systems beginning in May 2022.

Plaintiffs Dina Winger, Richard Olivieri, Lauren Woon and Chris Schulte filed the AT&T class actions in Texas, Montana, and New Jersey federal courts after AT&T disclosed that hackers downloaded phone and text message records from almost all of its 110 million wireless customers.

The AT&T data breach class action lawsuit was confirmed in a July 12 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing and by a post on the telecom company’s website.

A hacker reportedly accessed an AT&T workspace on a third-party cloud platform. That enabled the hacker to obtain call records of customer call and text communications occurring from May 1 and Oct. 31, 2022 and on Jan. 2, 2023.

AT&T class actions say company knew data was vulnerable yet failed to protect it

The plaintiffs allege AT&T knew their data was valuable to cybercriminals. Despite that knowledge, the company failed to implement adequate security measures to protect their personally identifiable information (PII).

“Plaintiff and other data breach victims provided their PII to AT&T with the reasonable expectations and mutual understanding that AT&T would comply with its obligations to keep such information confidential and secure from unauthorized access,” Winger said in her AT&T data breach class action lawsuit.

She says AT&T data breach victims are now at risk of identity theft and exploitation.

In a statement on its website, AT&T says the compromised information does not include the content of call or text communications or PII. The company does not believe the stolen data is publicly available.

Other AT&T class actions were filed over a separate data breach affecting more than 70 million customers.

What do you think about the AT&T data breach? Join the discussion in the comments.

Winger is represented by Patrick Yarborough of Foster Yarborough PLLC, David J. George and Lori Feldman of George Feldman McDonald PLLC and Ori Raphael and Damon Mathias of Mathias Raphael PLLC. Oliveri and Woon are represented by William A. Rossbach of Rossbach Law PC; Thomas E. Loeser and Karin B. Swope of Cotchett Pitre & McCarthy LLP; Ryan J. Clarkson, Yana Hart and Tiara Avaness of Clarkson Law Firm PC and Timothy G. Blood and Jennifer L. MacPherson of Blood Hurst & O’Reardon LLP. Schulte is represented by Serina M. Vash and John C. Herman of Herman Jones LLP.

The AT&T class actions are Dina Winger v. AT&T Inc., Case No. 3:24-cv-001797, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas; Richard Olivieri, et al. v. AT&T Inc., et al., Case No. 2:24-cv-00056, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana and Chris Schulte v. AT&T Inc., et al., Case No. 3:24-cv-07818, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

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