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St. Joseph’s/Candler Data Breach Class Action Lawsuit Overview:
- Who: Heather Betz voluntarily dismissed a class action lawsuit she had filed against St. Joseph’s/Candler Health System.
- Why: Betz claimed St. Joseph’s/Candler had failed to protect its patients personal and private information during an alleged six-month-long data breach.
- Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in Georgia federal court.
A Georgia plaintiff has done an about-face on a class action lawsuit filed against St. Joseph’s/Candler Health System over an alleged six-month long data breach that may have exposed the personal and private information of patients.
Plaintiff Heather Betz provided no explanation in a notice she filed to voluntarily dismiss the claims without prejudice, only three days after lodging the class action lawsuit against the Georgia hospital system, Law360 reports.
The alleged data breach may have exposed the personal, private, and health information of 1.4 million patients.
Betz claimed her private information was compromised after hackers allegedly got into Joseph’s/Candler’s information technology system in December of last year.
St. Joseph’s/Candler was allegedly unaware of the alleged data breach until June, when the hackers supposedly announced they were holding the hospital system for ransom, Law360 reports.
Betz argued St. Joseph’s/Candler failed to protect patients personal and private information from the hackers and did not immediately disclose the alleged breach to them.
St. Joseph’s/Candler had publicly acknowledged it uncovered suspicious activity in its system on June 17, nearly two months before patients were notified on Aug. 10, Betz said.
“That ‘suspicious activity’ detected on June 17, 2021 was the coup de gras of the hackers’ six-month attack,” stated the class action lawsuit, Law360 reports. “They were holding the hospital system’s IT system hostage, and demanding an as-yet unknown payment in order to release their hold on the system.”
St. Joseph’s/Candler notified patients of the alleged breach on its website, assuring them they were conducting an investigation, working with law enforcement, and taking the necessary steps to secure its systems now and going forward.
Are you a patient of St.Joseph’s/Candler Health Systems who may have had their personal information exposed in the alleged data breach? Let us know in the comments!
The plaintiff is represented by Constance Cooper, Frank R. Schirripa and Seth M. Pavsner of Hach Rose Schirripa & Cheverie LLP.
The St. Joseph’s/Candler Class Action Lawsuit is Betz v. St. Joseph’s/Candler Health System Inc., Case No. 4:21-cv-00260, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia.
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2 thoughts onPlaintiff Voluntarily Dismisses Claim Against St. Joseph’s/Candler Over Alleged Data Breach
I was not the only one in my family affected by St. Joseph’s/Candler data breach, it also included my three children.
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