Pro Se Plaintiff Files Notice of Dismissal vs. DSRM After Settlement in Data Breach Case

Pro se plaintiff Venton Smith filed an instant notice of dismissal against DSRM National Bank after the parties reached a mutual settlement agreement, said a Thursday notice (docket 3:23-cv-02804) in U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Francisco. Smith sued DSRM in June, along with Capital One, Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, TD Bank, Amazon, Equifax, Experian, TransUnion, American Express, Best Buy, Chase, Citibank, Macy’s and Nordstrom, among others, saying his personally identifiable information was exposed in a 2019 Capital One data breach (see 2306120045). Smith claimed that as a result of the breach, in which an Amazon Web Services employee stole data affecting about 106 million customers, at least 12 of his accounts were fraudulently accessed to buy unknown merchandise. Fraudulent purchases using Smith's accounts for American Express, Best Buy, Capital One, Chase, Citibank, Macy’s and Nordstrom totaled $92,300 in loans, merchandise and products, he said. Equifax settled with Smith in July (see 2307140038); TransUnion said Smith’s complaint failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted and his claims are barred by the applicable statute of limitations. Also in July, Citibank, Best Buy and Macy’s moved the court to compel Smith to arbitrate his case on an individual basis and to stay the instant action pending the outcome of arbitration proceedings (see 2307240047).