TAMPA, Fla. (Legal Newsline) – A Florida woman is suing a discount retail brokerage firm after a data breach allegedly compromised the personal and financial information of millions of customers.
Angela Martin, individually and for all others similarly situated, filed a class-action lawsuit Dec. 4 in the Tampa Division of the Middle District of Florida against Scottrade, alleging breach of express and implied contract, violation of consumer fraud laws of multiple states, and negligence.
Scottrade operates an online trading website, which was hacked over the course of several months from late 2013 to early 2014, the suit states.
The suit states Scottrade's security failures and failures to abide by best practices and industry standards regarding data security and retention caused millions of customers' sensitive personal and financial information to be compromised.
Scottrade estimated nearly 4.6 million customers have been affected by the data breach, according to the suit. However, the suit claims, Scottrade has only recently begun notifying customers of the data breach in October, but its notice is deficient and fails to fully explain the nature and cause of the breach.
Martin and others in the class seek monetary, punitive, and actual damages of more than $5 million, including attorney fees, interests and litigation costs. They are represented by attorneys Geoffrey Parmer and Andy Dogali of Dogali Law Group in Tampa, and by attorneys Karen Hanson Riebel and Kate M. Baxter-Kauf of Lockridge Grindal Nauen in Minneapolis.
Tampa Division of the Middle District of Florida Case number 8:15-CV-02791-SCB-EAJ