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Update:
- A judge dismissed an Oklahoma City University class action lawsuit regarding a data breach, saying the plaintiff did not show any injury or identity theft as a result of the breach.
- U.S. District Judge Timothy G. DeGuisti ruled Plaintiff Maria Ruskiewicz did not have standing to receive judicial relief.
- The school informed current and former students of the data breach in March, eight months after it reportedly occurred.
- The breach could have involved students’ names, addresses, Social Security numbers, driver’s licenses or state identification numbers and passport numbers, the dismissal claims.
Oklahoma City University data breach class action overview:
- Who: An Oklahoma City University School of Law graduate is suing the college.
- Why: The plaintiff says the school was negligent with student data, leading to a cyber attack.
- Where: The Oklahoma City University data breach class action was filed in an Oklahoma federal court.
- What are my options: As an alternative to Oklahoma City University, Udemy offers online learning options.
(April 28, 2023)
Oklahoma City University School of Law was negligent with the storage of its students’ data, leading to a breach that may have compromised thousands of peoples’ Social Security, driver license and passport numbers, a new class action lawsuit alleges.
Plaintiff Maria Ruskiewicz filed the class action lawsuit against the Oklahoma City University (OCU) School of Law on April 10 in an Oklahoma federal court, alleging violations of state and federal privacy laws.
According to the lawsuit, the school suffered a data breach in July 2022 of which affected students were only notified of in a letter sent March 20, 2023 — eight months later.
Ruskiewicz says OCU gathered and stored a massive amount of private information belonging to students and staff, and therefore had legal and equitable duties to the students for protecting their personal information from unauthorized disclosure.
However, the school allegedly failed to implement “adequate and reasonable cyber-security procedures and protocols necessary to protect individuals’ personal information,” the lawsuit states. This led to a successful phishing attempt, Ruskiewicz says.
Plaintiffs face risk of fraud and misuse
Ruskiewicz says she and others have suffered significant injury and damages due to the data breach. These include out-of-pocket expenses, including those associated with the mitigation measures they were forced to employ, and more.
“Plaintiff and the class also now forever face an amplified risk of further misuse, fraud, and identity theft due to their sensitive personal Information falling into the hands of cybercriminals as a result of the tortious conduct of the defendant,” she said.
Ruskiewicz is suing on behalf of a class of about 27,229 people whose data was exposed in the breach. She is suing for negligence, breach of contractual duty, unjust enrichment, invasion of privacy and violation of the Oklahoma Consumer Protection Act.
Ruskiewicz seeks certification of the class action, damages, fees, costs and a jury trial.
In March, Snap-on agreed to a class action settlement to resolve claims it failed to prevent a 2022 data breach that compromised associate and franchisee information.
What do you think of the allegations in this OCU case? Let us know in the comments.
The plaintiff is represented by Matthew D. Alison and Jason B. Aamodt of Indian & Environmental Law Group PLLC, Lynn A. Toops and Amina A. Thomas of Cohen & Malad LLP, J. Gerard Stranch IV and Andrew E. Mize of Stranch Jennings & Garvey PLLC and Samuel Strauss and Raina Borrelli of Turke & Strauss LLP.
The OCU data breach class action lawsuit is Maria Ruskiewicz v. Oklahoma City University, Case No. 5:23-cv-00303, in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.
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One thought on Oklahoma City University data breach lawsuit dismissed
The picture attached to this article is Bizzell Memorial Library on the University of Oklahoma’s campus located at Norman, Oklahoma. The University of Oklahoma does indeed have a law school. The story, however, is about Oklahoma City University’s Law School located in Oklahoma City. In short, wrong picture.