City of Hope class action overview:
- Who: At least eight plaintiffs have filed class action lawsuits against City of Hope National Medical Center.
- Why: They allege City of Hope’s failure to adequately safeguard sensitive patient data left it vulnerable to a cyberattack discovered on Oct. 13, 2023.
- Where: The City of Hope data breach class action lawsuits were filed in California federal court.
City of Hope National Medical Center is facing at least eight separate data breach class action lawsuits in the wake of a cyberattack announced April 2.
Plaintiffs Tammy L. Julian, Brian Ridley, Patricia Lopez, Graciela Rodriguez, Laura Delapaz, Pamela Krause, Lynsey Saurenmann and L.E. each filed class action lawsuits against City of Hope National Medical Center in April, claiming they were affected by a preventable cyberattack on the medical center’s networks.
The City of Hope data breach was reportedly first discovered on Oct. 13, 2023, when the medical center detected “suspicious activity on a subset of its systems.” A subsequent investigation allegedly found an unauthorized third party had accessed the systems between Sept. 19 an Oct. 13, 2023.
Even though City of Hope learned of the data breach in October, it did not notify the potential victims for more than five months, the plaintiffs allege.
More than 827,000 individuals may be affected by the City of Hope data breach.
Plaintiffs: City of Hope National Medical Center failed to adequately safeguard data
The City of Hope class action lawsuits claim that the medical center had an obligation to protect patients’ protected health information (PHI) and personally identifiable information (PII) as defined by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).
However, City of Hope allegedly failed to maintain adequate safeguards to protect sensitive data, leaving it vulnerable to hackers.
As a result, hackers were able to access files containing PHI and PII including contact information, birthdates, Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, financial details, health insurance information and patients’ medical records, according to the City of Hope data breach class action lawsuits.
The plaintiffs assert City of Hope should have been aware cybercriminals had an interest in its data and were likely to target its networks because healthcare data is highly valuable.
Because the stolen data puts victims at increased risk of identity theft and fraud, the plaintiffs assert they must spend time and money to protect themselves from fraudulent activity. Medical identity theft in particular may result in false claims and may potentially lead to dangerous consequences such as mistreatment or misdiagnosis, the plaintiffs allege.
The City of Hope class action lawsuits assert claims for negligence, breach of implied contract, breach of fiduciary duty, invasion of privacy and violations of California law.
Roku was recently hit with a data breach class action lawsuit after it announced 576,000 user accounts had been accessed by an unauthorized actor.
Were you affected by the cyberattack on the City of Hope National Medical Center’s systems? Tell us about your experience in the comments.
Julian is represented by John R. Parker Jr. of Almeida Law Group LLC; Ridley is represented by Adrian R. Bacon of The Law Offices of Todd M. Friedman PC; Lopez is represented by Kristen Lake Cardoso of Kopelowitz Ostrow PA; Rodriguez is represented by Andrew G. Gunem and Samuel J. Strauss of Turke & Strauss LLP; Delapaz is represented by Joseph M. Lyon of The Lyon Firm; Krause is represented by Eric Lechtzin of Edelson Lechtzin LLP; Saurenmann is represented by John J. Nelson of Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman LLC; and L.E. is represented by Stephen R. Basser and Samuel M. Ward of Barrack Rodos & Bacine.
The City of Hope National Medical Center data breach class action lawsuits are Tammy L. Julian v. City of Hope National Medical Center d/b/a City of Hope, Case No. 2:24-cv-02898-HDV-SSC, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California; Brian Ridley v. City of Hope National Medical Center Inc., Case No. 2:24-cv-02890-CAS-MRW, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California; Patricia Lopez v. City of Hope National Medical Center, Case No. 2:24-cv-02879-MEMF-PVC, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California; Graciela Rodriguez v. City of Hope National Medical Center d/b/a City of Hope, Case No. 2:24-cv-02761, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Eastern Division; Laura Delapaz v. City of Hope, Case No. 2:24-cv-02885-PA-KS, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Southern Division; Pamela Krause v. City of Hope, Case No. 2:24-cv-02894-MWF-AS, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California; Lynsey Saurenmann v. City of Hope, Case No. 2:24-cv-02860, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and L.E. v. City of Hope Medical Center d/b/a City of Hope, Case No. 2:24-cv-02967, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
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My husband has records at City of Hope