Johns Hopkins class action claims inadequate data security led to breach

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Johns Hopkins data breach class action overview: 

• Who: Johns Hopkins University and its health system are being sued for negligence in a class action lawsuit.
• Why: The plaintiffs say they and thousands of others of patients, employees and students of Johns Hopkins had their private information exposed in a recent data breach. 
• Where: The Johns Hopkins data breach class action was filed in a Maryland federal court.

Johns Hopkins University and its health system violated the law by allowing a data breach that exposed the sensitive private information of its patients, employees and students, a new class action lawsuit alleges.

Plaintiffs Maria Gregory and Ayomiposi Asaolu filed the class action lawsuit against Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Health System on July 10 in a Maryland federal court, alleging negligence. 

According to the lawsuit, Hopkins — which provides services in the healthcare industry — breached its duty to protect the sensitive personally identifiable information entrusted to it and failed to abide by its own Privacy Policy when it allowed a data breach.

Thousands of employees, students and patients personal information was accessed and exposed to unauthorized third parties during a data breach of the Hopkins system on May 29, 2023, which it announced June 14, 2023, the lawsuit alleges.

The breach included patients’ names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers and addresses, the lawsuit states.

“As a direct and proximate result of Hopkins’s inadequate data security, and its breach of its duty to handle PII with reasonable care, Plaintiffs’ PII have been accessed by hackers, posted on the dark web, and exposed to an untold number of unauthorized individuals,” the lawsuit states.

Hopkins had a duty to protect the private information, lawsuit alleges

According to the lawsuit, Hopkins had a duty to protect the private information entrusted to it as a healthcare provider. 

In allowing the breach, the defendants are guilty of negligence, negligence per se, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of confidences, breach of an implied contract and unjust enrichment, the plaintiffs allege.

As a result, they are seeking to represent anyone whose data was compromised in the breach. 

The plaintiffs are asking for certification of the class action, damages, fees, costs and a jury trial, as well as an order forcing Hopkins to improve its data security and an order forcing Hopkins to pay for at least three years of credit monitoring for affected parties.

Earlier this year, Johns Hopkins University agreed to a $6.6 million class action lawsuit settlement to resolve claims that students did not get the benefit of their tuition costs during the spring 2020 semester

What do you think about the allegations in this data breach class action lawsuit? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiffs are represented by Andrea R. Gold of Tycko & Zavareei LLP and Marc H. Edelson and Eric Lechtzin of Edelson Lechtzin LLP.

The Johns Hopkins class action lawsuit is Maria Gregory et al., v. Johns Hopkins University et al., Case No. 1:23-cv-01854-BPG in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.

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