Bonobos Dodges Class Action Lawsuit Over 2020 Data Breach

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

Bonobos Data Breach Class Action Lawsuit Overview:

• Who: A New York federal court judge has nixed a consumer class action lawsuit against menswear company Bonobos.
• Why: The judge said that the lead plaintiff in the case failed to prove he suffered injury from a 2020 data breach or faced any risk of future harm.
• Where: The case was litigated in the Southern District of New York.

A New York federal court judge has nixed a consumer class action lawsuit against menswear company Bonobos for a 2020 data breach, saying that the lead plaintiff in the case failed to prove he suffered injury from the data breach or faced any risk of future harm.

Bradley Cooper filed the class action lawsuit in 2021, more than seven years after he made a $170 purchase on Bonobos’ website, at which time he submitted his name, address, credit card details, and password. 

In 2020, the menswear company’s website was hacked and the personal data of its consumers stolen, including that of Cooper.

U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman wrote in his decision to dismiss Cooper’s case that many courts were currently grappling with the issue of data breaches and how much risk they posed. Answers to that were based on whether data was intentionally stolen, whether it had already been misused, and how ‘sensitive’ it was and at risk of causing identity theft, Furman wrote in the decision.

Using those factors, he said Cooper lacked standing to bring the lawsuit against Bonobos as “the age and nature of the data” and “the risk of identity theft or fraud is too remote to constitute injury in fact.”

Consumer Information Stolen in Bonobos Data Breach Included Encrypted Passwords

According to Cooper’s lawsuit, which alleged violations of New York business law and unjust enrichment, a group of hackers known as “Shiny Hunters” leaked the stolen information, which included customers’ addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, order history, IP addresses, encrypted passwords, and the last four digits of credit card numbers, into a online forum.

Bonobos notified customers of the hack in 2021. Cooper says he immediately changed the password to his Bonobos account, placed a security freeze on his credit card, purchased credit repair and protection services, and purchased a robocall-blocking subscription. He added that he has since received an increase in spam texts, calls and emails.

However, Furman found that Cooper’s stolen and posted information was all “less sensitive data, such as basic publicly available information, or data that can be rendered useless to cybercriminals.”

Cooper did not allege his contact information was the same as in 2013, and even if it was, that information was publicly available on his employer’s website, Furman wrote. He added that Cooper failed to allege that his credit card number remained unchanged, and even if it had he could have canceled the card, “‘effectively eliminating the risk of credit card fraud in the future.’”

As to the spam contact, Furman ruled the communication could not be linked to the hack and he “seem[ed] to simply be one among the many of us who are interrupted in our daily lives by unsolicited calls.”

The case was dismissed without leave to amend.

Unlike Bonobos, file sharing site Accellion did have to pay up after consumers filed a class action over a data breach that affected 9.2 million customers. The company reached a preliminary multimillion dollar deal that will establish a cash fund of $8.1 million to pay for claims, notice and administration costs, and more.

Have you ever had your personal data breached? Let us know in the comments section below!

Cooper is represented by Lori G. Feldman and David J. George of George Gesten McDonald PLLC and Terence R. Coates and Justin C. Walker of Markovits Stock & DeMarco LLC.

The Bonobos Data Breach Class Action is Cooper. v. Bonobos Inc., Case No. 1:21-cv-00854, in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

• PayPal Unlawfully Seizes Account Funds, Class Action Says
• PNC Mortgage Fees $662K Class Action Settlement
• Bank of America $75M Improper Fees Class Action Settlement
• Bank Of America Agrees To Pay Mortgage Borrowers $1.2 Million To Resolve Kickback Claims