SAN JOSE, Calif. (Legal Newsline) – A California man alleges his confidential personal information was compromised in an adult dating website data breach.
Alejandro Gutierrez filed a complaint individually and on behalf of all other similarly situated individuals on Aug. 10 in the Santa Clara County Superior Court against FriendFinder Networks Inc. alleging negligence, breach of implied contract, invasion of privacy and other counts.
According to the complaint, the defendant operates an online dating site "designed to facilitate discreet adult relationships between individuals and groups who seek to find similar minded adults for sexual encounters."
The plaintiff alleges the defendant failed to keep users' confidential information secure and in October 2016, hackers accessed 339 million accounts in the defendant's system. The suit states it was the second-largest breach of the 21st century, and roughly 71 percent of the accounts belonged to U.S. users. The suit also states 15 million of the affected accounts had been deleted.
The plaintiff holds FriendFinder Networks Inc. responsible because the defendant allegedly failed to implement industry-standard measures to safeguard users' personal information and failed to immediately notify its members whose information may have been compromised.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks judgment against defendant; certification of the class action; award of actual, compensatory, statutory and punitive damages; disgorgement; restitution; equitable and injunctive relief; attorney's fees; costs; interest; and other relief as may be available. He is represented by Julian Hammond, Polina Brandler and Ari Cherniak of HammondLaw PC in Baltimore, Maryland and Laura L. Ho of Goldstein, Borgen, Dardarian & Ho in Oakland, California.
Santa Clara County Superior Court case number 18-cv-05918