ALEXANDRIA, Va. (Legal Newsline) — A former Five Guys employee alleges the company's data breach of her personal information caused her to be a victim of identity theft.
Erika Ranck, on behalf of herself and all others similarly situated, filed a complaint Jan. 10 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia against Five Guys Enterprises LLC alleging negligence, breach of implied contract and other claims.
Ranck, according to her complaint, was employed by Five Guys 10 years ago for a period of two or three months. She claims on Jan. 3, 2023, she received a breach notice from the defendant stating her personal identification information including Social Security number and name was compromised in a data breach.
Ranck alleges that due to the data breach, she has suffered "repeated fraud" including her name and credit being used to open accounts and reserve a U-Haul and her name, phone number, email and home address being fraudulently associated with a Walmart+ account. She claims the data breach has caused her to spend "considerable time" to address the issue and monitor her accounts as well as subjected her to future identity theft. She also claims the data breach has also caused her to suffer a delay in tax refund monies and that Five Guys failed to follow FTC guidelines for its data security.
Ranck and the class seek monetary relief, interest, trial by jury and all other just relief. They are represented by Lee Floyd and Justin Sheldon of Breit Biniazan PC in Richmond; Scott Perry of Breit Biniazan PC in Arlington; Samuel Strauss and Raina Borrelli of Turke & Strauss LLP in Madison, Wis.; and Gary Klinger of Milberg, Coleman, Bryson, Phillips, Grossman PLLC in Chicago.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia Alexandria Division case number 1:23-CV-00034-TSE-JFA