Genworth Financial Supports Motion to Transfer Related Cases in MOVEit MDL

Corp.’s (PSC) MOVEit secure file transfer software, which allegedly had vulnerabilities that allowed an unauthorized third-party to access data from numerous companies such as Pension Benefit Information (PBI). “As an attenuated result of that chain of events, because PBI had data from Genworth subsidiaries in order to provide PBI’s contracted-for services, Genworth now finds itself a defendant in a few putative class actions subject to transfer in this already sprawling docket of roughly four dozen total cases,” said the response. If actions against Genworth “advance past dismissal,” centralized proceedings “will be essential to efficiency, especially by avoiding conflicting class action proceedings,” it said. “There is no basis for holding Genworth liable for vulnerabilities created and sold by PSC and used, not by Genworth, but by PBI, a vendor providing services to Genworth subsidiaries,” it said. If there's a wrongdoer aside from the unauthorized third party who accessed MOVEit, “it will be revealed through discovery and proceedings centered on the work and conduct of PSC and PBI." PSC and PBI are co-defendants with Genworth in one action, in addition to being co-defendants in many other cases where defendants, like Genworth, “are one or more steps removed from the software at issue,” it said. “Given the numerous complaints already pending around the country brought by many different plaintiffs’ lawyers against PSC, PBI, and a hodgepodge of other defendants, there would be no good or remotely efficient way to handle these cases without Multidistrict Litigation,” it said.