A Pasich Attorney Comments on Influential Appeals Court Cyber Breach Ruling in Business Insurance Interview

Businesses can expect more court rulings allowing plaintiffs to pursue damages for data breaches, even where there is no evidence the information was ever improperly used, following an influential appeals court ruling on August 24, 2023.

Nancy Bohnak v. Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. concerned a former Marsh McLennan employee who sued the brokerage after her private information was accessed in a 2021 cyber breach that involved Social Security numbers and other personal data. After the company sent out breach notifications to the people affected, Bohnak filed a putative class-action lawsuit on behalf of herself and others similarly situated alleging Marsh McLennan did not adequately protect personally identifiable information, among other things.

In an interview with Business Insurance, a Pasich attorney commented: “Under the ruling, plaintiffs have standing to sue if data accessed in a breach gets to a third party.”

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