BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (Legal Newsline) – An Ivy League school is alleged to have failed to timely disclose information about a data breach that occurred a decade ago.
Julie Mason filed a complaint on behalf of herself and all others similarly situated on Aug. 1 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut against Yale University alleging negligence, breach of security regarding computerized data and other counts.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that on July 30, she received a letter from Yale notifying her that her personal identifying information, including her name and Social Security number, was stored by Yale and was accessed and extracted in a 2008-2009 data breach.
The suit states the data breach affected 119,000 individuals and as of Aug. 1, the defendant still had not notified all individuals affected. The suit states Yale discovered the breach in June.
The plaintiff alleges her only relationship with Yale was as an applicant to a visiting student program in 1996. She alleges she was a victim of identity theft in 2009 and had $60,000 stolen from her bank accounts in 2014.
The plaintiff holds Yale University responsible because the defendant allegedly breached its duties of care by failing to maintain appropriate technological and other systems to prevent unauthorized access.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks compensatory, statutory, and punitive damages in an amount to be determined; attorneys’ fees; costs and litigation expenses; and interest on all amounts awarded. She is represented by James J. Reardon Jr. of Reardon Scanlon LLP in West Hartford, Connecticut and Scott A. Bursor and Philip L. Fraietta of Bursor & Fischer PA in New York.
U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut case number 3:18-cv-01280-AWT