14th Samsung Class Action Seeks Lifetime ID Theft Protection

Due to Samsung’s failure to implement and follow “basic security procedures," the personally identifiable information of plaintiff Kenneth Hasson and millions of other consumers “is now in the hands of cyber-criminals,” alleged his class action Wednesday (docket 2:22-cv-1669) in U.S. District Court for Western Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh. It's the 14th class action emanating from Samsung’s summertime data breach. Plaintiffs before the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation are divided into two camps, one favoring consolidating the cases and moving them all to U.S. District Court for Northern California and the other preferring the district for New Jersey. Hasson seeks statutory and punitive damages, plus orders requiring Samsung “to fully and accurately disclose the nature of the information that has been compromised” and to adopt “reasonably adequate security practices and safeguards” to prevent future incidents. He also wants the court to order Samsung to give consumers lifetime "identity theft protective services” because they will forever be at “an increased risk of identity theft” due to Samsung’s negligent conduct. Samsung didn’t comment Friday on Hasson’s complaint. It suggested strongly in a recent court filing that its defense would be based on motions to compel arbitration.