Transcription Firm Waited 6 Months to Notify Data Breach Victims: Class Action
Medical transcription company Perry Johnson & Associates waited nearly six months to notify “impacted individuals” of a data breach that occurred March 27-May 2, said a negligence class action Thursday (docket 2:24-cv-00025) in U.S. District Court for Nevada in Las…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
Vegas. Plaintiff Huda Abdaljalil, an Ohio resident, is a patient at a healthcare provider for which PJ&A provides transcription services, it said. In “requesting and maintaining” Abdaljalil’s personally identifiable (PII) and personal health (PHI) information, the defendant didn’t take care of her information, “leading to its exposure as direct result” of its “inadequate data security measures,” the complaint said. The notification Abdaljalil received from PJ&A “put the onus” on her to protect her PII and PHI by urging her to “remain vigilant” and recommending that she “regularly review her financial accounts, report any suspicious or unrecognized activity immediately and monitor her accounts for the next 12 to 24 months,” it said. Since learning of the breach, Abdaljalil has received “multiple dark web monitoring alerts” from her credit monitoring agencies, informing her that her PII and PHI “is on the dark web,” it said. Abdaljalil has had to spend time mitigating risk of future identity theft and fraud, including spending time researching the breach, changing her passwords and freezing her credit with credit bureaus, it said. She has experienced “significant frustration, anxiety, worry, stress, and fear” knowing that hackers accessed her PII and PHI and will likely use it in the future for identity theft, fraud “and other nefarious purposes,” it said. In addition to negligence, Abdaljalil claims unjust enrichment. She seeks compensatory and punitive damages, an order of restitution, injunctive relief, pre- and post-judgment interest and legal costs. PJ&A didn’t comment Friday.