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Mercer University data breach class action lawsuit overview:
- Who: An anonymous plaintiff filed a class action lawsuit against The Corporation of Mercer University.
- Why: Mercer is accused of failing to properly safeguard and secure the personally identifiable information and/or financial information of more than 93,000 individuals impacted by an April data breach.
- Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in Georgia federal court.
- What are my options: Udemy offers online learning options on a variety of subjects.
Mercer University failed to properly secure and safeguard the personally identifiable information (PII) and/or financial information of more than 93,000 individuals during an April data breach, a new class action lawsuit alleges.
A John Doe plaintiff claims Mercer, a private research university in Macon, Georgia, disregarded the rights of themselves and other class members by allegedly “intentionally, willfully, recklessly, or negligently” failing to take and implement adequate and reasonable measures to protect their data.
The plaintiff argues Mercer also failed to take the appropriate steps to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of data, and to “follow applicable, required and appropriate protocols, policies and procedures regarding the encryption of data, even for internal use.”
“As a result, the PII of Plaintiff and Class Members was compromised through disclosure to an unknown and unauthorized third party — an undoubtedly nefarious third party that seeks to profit off this disclosure by defrauding Plaintiff and Class Members in the future,” the Mercer class action states.
The plaintiff wants to represent a nationwide class of individuals who had their PII and/or financial information exposed in the April data breach, and a Georgia subclass of individuals who had their PII or personal health information exposed.
Mercer either knew or should have known its services were used to store ‘highly confidential PII,’ class action says
Mercer either knew or should have known the planitiff and other class members would use their services “to store and/or share sensitive data, including highly confidential PII,” the class action alleges.
“The vulnerable and potentially exposed data at issue of Plaintiff and the Class stored on Defendant’s information network, includes, without limitation, names, Social Security numbers, and driver’s license numbers,” the Mercer class action states.
The plaintiff claims Mercer is guilty of unjust enrichment, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, breach of implied contract and negligence.
The plaintiff is demanding a jury trial and requesting declaratory and injunctive relief, along with an award of actual, nominal and consequential damages for themselves and all class members.
An Oklahoma City University School of Law graduate sued the school in April, arguing it was negligent in the way it handled student data before a data breach.
Were you affected by the Mercer University data breach? Let us know in the comments!
The plaintiff is represented by Robert E. Jones of The Jones Law Firm, P.C., Michael R. Reese and Charles D. Moore of Reese LLP, and Kevin Laukaitis of Laukaitis Law LLC.
The Mercer University data breach class action lawsuit is Doe, et al. v. The Corporation of Mercer University, Case No. 3:23-cv-00087, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
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