Rochester, N.Y. (Legal Newsline) – A New York woman is suing one of the state's largest health insurance companies following a data security breach.
Katie Fuller, individually and for all others similarly situated, filed a class action lawsuit Dec. 10 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York against Lifetime Healthcare, doing business as The Lifetime Healthcare Cos.; and Excellus Health Plan, doing business as Excellus BlueCross BlueShield; alleging negligence, negligence per se, breach of implied contract, bailment, conversion, unjust enrichment, and violations of New York general business law.
According to the complaint, on Sept. 9, Excellus announced a security breach that exposed approximately 10 million customers' personally identifiable information, including names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, addresses, telephone numbers, member identification numbers, financial information and medical claims information. It took Excellus nearly two years to detect and inform customers of the breach, which it claims began as far back as Dec. 23, 2013.
The suit states this is just one of several data security breaches involving a health care company affiliated with BluCross BlueShield. Others include breaches with Anthem, Premera, and CareFirst.
The suit states the defendants had a duty to maintain adequate security measures to safeguard personal information of its customers, including Fuller and others in the class.
As a result, the plaintiff and class members have suffered and will continue to suffer economic damages, including costs of monitoring their credit and financial accounts and mitigating their damages. They also face immediate risk of identity theft and fraud, and damage to their credit score.
Fuller and others in the class seek damages, restitution, and unjunctive relief. They are represented by attorney John Licata of Dolce Panepinto in Buffalo, and by attorneys Shannon L. Hopkins, Shane Rowley, Nancy Kulesa, and Andrea Clisura of Levi & Korsinsky in New York City.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York Case number 6:15-CV-06739-EAW