Samsung Data Breach Class Action Count Rises to 12 With 3 New Cases

Samsung served notice Tuesday on the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) of three potential “tag-along” class actions alleging the company was negligent when its midsummer data breach exposed to hackers the personally identifiable information (PII) of millions of account holders. “All of the potential tag-along actions involve common questions of law and fact with the actions currently under consideration for transfer” to the U.S. District Court for Northern California, said Samsung’s notice (case No. 3005). The three new cases “should be considered as related actions for purposes of this pending multidistrict litigation,” it said. The three new complaints would bring to a dozen the total number of class actions alleging Samsung should be held accountable for the PII that fell into the possession of bad actors. Plaintiffs in the previous nine class actions asked the JPML to consolidate all the cases under the watch of U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley in San Francisco (see 2210140042). Responses are due Nov. 2, replies by Nov. 9, to the plaintiffs’ Oct. 7 motion for transfer and consolidation of the various class actions.