Globe Life settles for $4.66 million over 2024 data breach claims

Globe Life settlement overview:

• Who: Globe Life Inc. and American Income Life Insurance Co. have reached a $4.66 million settlement with a class of consumers.
• Why: The consumers alleged Globe Life and American Income Life Insurance failed to adequately protect their personal information in a 2024 data breach.
• Where: The Globe Life data breach class action settlement was reached in Texas federal court.

Globe Life and its subsidiary American Income Life Insurance have reached a $4.66 million settlement to resolve a class action lawsuit claiming the companies failed to adequately protect the personal information of policyholders and applicants in a 2024 data breach in which hackers attempted to extort money from the company.

Plaintiffs filed an unopposed motion for preliminary approval of the settlement on Feb. 12 in Texas federal court.

The settlement provides up to $3.4 million in cash payments to class members and $1.26 million in attorneys’ fees for class counsel. Plaintiffs seek to represent more than 530,000 individuals who received notice that their information was potentially exposed.

If approved, the Globe Life data breach settlement would resolve claims that Globe Life and American Income Life failed to properly encrypt or redact the sensitive information of clients and insurance applicants, leaving it vulnerable to theft during a 2024 cyberattack targeting American Income Life.

The lawsuit consolidated three proposed class actions by current and former policyholders and a policy applicant who received notice that their private information was potentially exposed in the breach.

Globe Life data breach settlement provides cash payments, credit monitoring

The incident prompted Globe Life to notify approximately 850,000 individuals whose information was stored in databases linked to the breach and to offer them credit monitoring services “out of an abundance of caution,” the insurer told the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last year.

Under the proposed settlement, class members may receive up to $5,000 in reimbursement for documented losses as well as compensation for lost time at a rate of $18 per hour for up to four hours. The agreement also provides two years of credit monitoring.

“Though the parties remain convinced of the strength of their respective cases, they also understand the risk, complexity, delays and expense of prolonged litigation,” plaintiffs said in their motion for preliminary approval of the deal, noting that the agreement is the result of negotiations in recent months.

The “relevant factors all weigh in favor of the reasonableness, fairness and adequacy of the proposed settlement, so the court should grant preliminary approval,” the motion said.

Were you affected by the Globe Life 2024 data breach? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiffs are represented by Joe Kendall of Kendall Law Group PLLC, Jeff Ostrow of Kopelowitz Ostrow, Carl V. Malmstrom of Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP, Kent A. Bronson of Bronson Legal LLC, Gary M. Klinger of Milberg PLLC and Andrew J. Shamis of Shamis & Gentile P.A.

The Globe Life data breach class action settlement is In re: American Income Life Insurance Co. and Globe Life Inc. Data Breach Litigation, Case No. 6:25-cv-00262, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.

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