Columbia University class action lawsuit overview:
- Who: Plaintiff Alexandra Lardis filed a class action lawsuit against Columbia University.
- Why: Columbia University allegedly failed to protect sensitive information, leaving it vulnerable to a data breach.
- Where: The Columbia University data breach class action was filed in New York federal court.
Columbia University failed to protect students’ and employees’ sensitive information, leaving it vulnerable to a data breach in May 2023, according to a class action lawsuit filed Nov. 21 in New York federal court.
Plaintiff Alexandra Lardis is a Columbia University alumna who says she was the victim of fraud as a result of the Columbia University data breach. She says she experienced three fraud attempts in which a criminal attempted to use her credit card without her knowledge or consent.
At the time of these fraud attempts, Lardis says she had no idea that her sensitive data had been compromised in a massive data breach that reportedly affected nearly 900 colleges.
The Columbia University class action lawsuit points to information the National Student Clearinghouse submitted to the California attorney general’s office in September 2023 about the hack of a file-sharing tool called MOVEit, which was utilized by the affected colleges.
MOVEit reportedly had a security vulnerability that enabled cybercriminals to gain access to the putative class members’ sensitive information around May 30, 2023.
The information compromised in the Columbia University data breach reportedly included Social Security numbers, birthdates, financial information and other sensitive data that could be used by criminals to perpetrate identity theft.
Columbia University class action claims class members were never notified about data breach
Lardis claims that Columbia University learned about the data breach shortly after it took place yet failed to notify students and employees whose sensitive information may have been compromised.
She argues that Columbia failed to adhere to its own cybersecurity protections and protocols that were meant to protect sensitive information that had been entrusted into its custody. Had Columbia University provided timely notification about the breach, Landis says she and putative class members could have acted more quickly to mitigate the damage.
The Columbia University class action lawsuit claims the university still has not sent out notification letters to inform putative class members that their sensitive information may have been compromised in the data breach.
Lardis asserts claims against Columbia University for negligence, breach of implied contract, breach of express contract and violations of New York business law.
Earlier this year, a Columbia University class action lawsuit alleged the university submitted false data to college ranking services.
Were you affected by the Columbia University data breach? Tell us about your experience in the comments.
Lardis is represented by Matthew A. Girardi, L. Timothy Fisher and Jonathan L. Wolloch of Bursor & Fisher PA.
The Columbia University data breach class action lawsuit is Alexandra Lardis v. Columbia University, Case No. 1:23-cv-10241-ALC, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
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