Settlement Reached in Schnucks Data Breach Class Action Lawsuit

Schnucks Markets agreed to a proposed $2.1 million settlement agreement in an attempt to resolve a class action lawsuit accusing the grocery store chain of exposing 2.4 million customers’ credit and debit cards to fraud in a massive data breach in the winter of 2012.

The class action lawsuit that Schnucks is attempting to settle, accuses Schnucks of failing to protect consumers’ credit and debit card information as well as failing to disclose the breach and stop further theft from happening. The company first learned of the data breach in March 2013 and also learned its systems had been compromised since Dec. 15, 2012.

After the disclosure, the company’s owner issued the following statement: “On behalf of myself, the Schnuck family and all of our 15,000 teammates, I apologize to everyone affected by this incident… [o]ver the years, technology has helped us deliver superior customer service, but it also introduces risks that we have actively worked to manage through compliance audits, encryption technology and various other security measures.”

Lawsuits were filed against Schnucks and Schnucks filed lawsuits against payment processing companies First Data Merchant Data Services Corp. and Citicorp Payment Services Inc., alleging the firms of withheld too much money from Schnucks to cover costs related to the data breach.

Under the terms of the class action lawsuit settlement agreement, Schnucks proposes compensating customers  for out-of-pocket expenses, including unreimbursed bank fees, long distance and cellphone charges incurred while dealing with the fallout, credit monitoring services and time spent working with banks, merchants and creditors. Schnucks would pay up to $200 per customer for these expenses and customers who handled a fraudulent charge stemming from the breach would receive $10 for each of their credit or debit cards that were affected by the data breach. Additionally, customers who lost money due to fraudulent charges would be entitled to up to $10,000 each. The settlement also provides for attorneys fees up to $635,000 plus costs.

Judge David Dowd of the St. Louis Circuit Court scheduled an approval hearing on Jan. 13 for the class action settlement proposal.

A related federal class action lawsuit has been stayed pending the resolution of this class action settlement agreement. U.S. District Judge John Ross decided to stay the case late last week and during a hearing the judge indicated it is likely the federal class action lawsuit will proceed if class members do not participate in this settlement.

Schnucks is one of the largest privately held companies in St. Louis, producing revenue close to $2.5 billion last year and providing employment for approximately 15,000.

The plaintiffs are represented by Geoffrey S. Meyerkord of Meyerkord & Meyerkord, LLC, John S. Steward of Steward Law Firm, LLC, and Joseph V. Neill, Attorney at Law.

The Schnuck Credit Card Breach Class Action Lawsuit is Bannister v. Schnuck Markets, Inc., Case No. 1322-cc00800 in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis, State of Missouri.

UPDATE: Instructions on how to file a claim for the Schnucks data breach settlement are now available! Click here or visit www.SchnucksCardClaims for details.