Settlement Secured for Consumers in Home Depot Data Breach Litigation
Stueve Siegel Hanson lawyers took lead in securing a significant settlement for consumers against The Home Depot, Inc. after a 2014 data breach compromised the payment card data of 40 million U.S. customers and e-mail address of 52-53 million U.S. customers.
The settlement creates a $13 million cash fund for customers who suffered out-of-pocket losses, unreimbursed charges, or spent time remedying issues related to the Home Depot data breach. Affected individuals will be eligible to receive reimbursement of documented losses up to $10,000, as well as time spent remedying issues relating to the data breach for up to 5 hours at $15 per hour.
Home Depot will also fund 18 months of Identity Guard® Essentials monitoring services for customers who had their payment card data compromised, which carries a retail value of approximately $180 per enrollee. The service includes a $1 million insurance policy to help protect consumers against future harm.
Home Depot further agreed to significantly upgrade its data security practices, including appointing a Chief Information Security Officer, conducting regular security risk assessments, and enhancing encryption for all debit and credit card transactions in Home Depot stores.
The multi-district litigation was consolidated in Atlanta, Georgia, where Stueve Siegel Hanson attorneys Norman Siegel and Barrett J. Vahle were appointed co-lead counsel in February 2015.
Norm Siegel was quoted in a Law360 article about the settlement, “This settlement provides compensation for those harmed by the breach, comprehensive identity and credit monitoring to protect against future harm, and requires Home Depot to significantly change the way it protects customer information.”
Customers eligible to participate in the settlement will begin receiving notification in the next two months.
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