The law firm of Gallagher & Kennedy announced today that the firm has filed a class-action lawsuit in Superior Court against Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) for exposing and compromising the private, confidential, personal identifying information of an estimated 2.5 million students, applicants, parents, employees and others. In April of 2013, the FBI discovered that the private information was for sale online.
The lawsuit, led by attorneys Mark Fuller and Paul Stoller, alleges that the District ignored repeated warnings about what it knew were vulnerabilities in its IT systems and databases, and ended up exposing confidential information “tantamount to a gift-wrapped package for anyone seeking to steal someone’s identity.” The Complaint also alleges that the District improperly delayed seven months before starting to notify victims, and then used a form letter which was misleading and deceptive.
Earlier this year, Gallagher and Kennedy filed a lawsuit to compel MCCCD to disclose public records relating to the security breach, which MCCCD has resisted. The firm also filed a successful lawsuit seeking to take an expedited deposition of a former MCCCD employee who repeatedly warned senior administrators about the security vulnerabilities which led to the 2013 breach.
Click here for additional information on this complaint and the lawsuit.