Recently, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania granted final approval of a class action settlement arising from a data breach that occurred in February 2023. The court found the settlement fair, reasonable and adequate, and in the best interests of the class following a final approval hearing. The settlement provides for payments to eligible class members from the settlement fund. The court ordered the parties to carry out the settlement agreement according to its terms and enjoined class members from pursuing related claims elsewhere.

Previously, the court had preliminarily approved the class action settlement, which stemmed from a data breach that exposed the personal information of more than 1.6 million individuals. The breach, discovered in early February 2023, involved unauthorized access to sensitive data, including names, Social Security numbers, account details, and other financial information. The settlement established a $2,625,000 fund to compensate affected individuals for out-of-pocket losses up to $2,500 (which must be documented) or provide alternative cash payments (a flat amount requiring no documentation). The settlement also provided service awards to each class representative and an award of attorneys’ fees and litigation costs to the attorneys for the class.