Automation Personnel Services Negligent in Staffing Agency Data Breach, Says Class Action

Automation Personnel Services Data Breach Class Action Lawsuit Overview: 

• Who: Teresa Madkin filed a class action lawsuit against staffing services agency, Automation Personnel Services (APS). 
• Why: Madkin claims APS was negligent in failing to protect its employees and customers’ private information by allowing a data breach to occur.
• Where: The class action lawsuit was removed to Alabama federal court. 

Automation Personnel Services (APS) failed in its duty to protect consumers’ private information, a new class action lawsuit alleges. 

Plaintiff Teresa Madkin filed the class action lawsuit against APS in the Circuit Court for Jefferson County, Alabama on July 29, alleging the company allowed consumers personal and private information to go public after falling into the hands of hackers.

Plaintiff is seeking to represent herself and a putative nationwide Class of consumers, in addition to an Alabama subclass.

Automation Personnel Services Data Breach

Automation Personnel Services, a staffing agency with more than 40 locations and 37,000 employees, collects and stores sensitive personal information from those trying to find work through the company. 

“During the screening and vetting process, APS collects from and maintains sensitive personal identifying information (PII) for each associate and/or applicant,” states the lawsuit. “The information collected and maintained includes…social security number, driver’s license number, bank account information, date of birth, email address, cell phone number and home address.”

Madkin says that she submitted such information during her employment through Automation Personnel Services. The plaintiffs and other consumers’ PII was accessed through an unencrypted system at APS and allegedly offered for sale on a popular hacker forum in November, 2020, says the class action. 

Madkin claims APS is guilty of negligence and in violation of the Alabama Deceptive Trade Practices Act. She is asking for compensatory and punitive damages, as well as other relief, for herself and the Class. 

She claims that not only did Automation Personnel Services not properly protect her and others’ sensitive information, they failed to warn those affected by the data breach until March, 17, 2021, months later. 

APS, meanwhile, is asking a federal judge to move a class action lawsuit filed against the company claiming it failed to prevent a data breach from state to federal court. 

APS claims there are also grounds for the class action lawsuit’s removal to federal court because the number of proposed Class Members is more than 100 and the amount in controversy would exceed $5 million. 

A similar class action lawsuit was recently filed against T-Mobile alleging the company failed to protect more than 100 million of its customers’ information, following a data breach. 

Are you a customer of Automation Personnel Services who had their personal information exposed in the data breach? Let us know in the comments! 

Teresa Madkin is represented by Richard P. Rouco of Quinn, Connor, Weaver, Davies & Rouco, LLP.The Automation Personnel Services Data Breach Class Action Lawsuit is Madkin v. Automation Personnel Services, Inc., Case No.01-CV-2021-902134.00, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama Southern Division.

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