ATLANTA—The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia has issued a decision that both supports and denies a motion by Equifax to dismiss claims related
to its huge 2017 data breach. Lawsuits were filed against Equifax by numerous financial institutions, including credit unions, and associations representing those institutions, including CUNA.
CUNA filed its lawsuit in October 2017 after the data breach at Equifax exposed the personal information of more than 145-million consumers and 209,000 credit card numbers.
Equifax’s motion was granted in part and denied in part. The Court agreed that the financial institution plaintiffs that actually issued payment cards compromised in the breach did have legal entitlement, or “standing” to sue, and upheld the majority of the claims brought by the card-issuing financial institutions, CUNA explained.
The Court dismissed the claims of other financial institutions, and of the institutional/association plaintiffs, including CUNA, that joined in the complaint, finding that they lacked such standing.
Plaintiffs are evaluating the claims of those financial institutions and associations that have been dismissed to determine whether such claims can be amended, CUNA said.