Pro Se Data Breach Plaintiff Reaches Settlement With Amex, Says Notice

Pro se plaintiff Venton Smith reached a settlement in principle with American Express involving the 2019 Capital One data breach, in which an Amazon Web Services employee stole data affecting about 106 million customers, said Smith's notice Wednesday (docket 3:23-cv-02804) in U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Francisco. Smith alleged the breach led to at least 12 of his accounts being fraudulently accessed to secure loans, merchandise and products totaling $92,300. He moved for a default judgment against American Express last month, saying it failed to respond to his June complaint. Smith and American Express are finalizing a settlement, after which the plaintiff will move for dismissal with prejudice as to American Express; the parties submitted a joint request for the court to adjudicate the default judgment. Smith’s complaint listed 14 defendants; he reached settlement agreements with DSRM National Bank, TD Bank, Synchrony Bank and Equifax. Smith objected in a Wednesday filing to Comenity Bank’s answer and affirmative defenses denying his allegations. Best Buy, Citibank and Macy’s moved the court to compel arbitration in the case. A motion hearing will be Oct. 13 for a default judgment against Jared Jeweler.