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Class Action Charges Sony Failed To Safeguard Critical, Irreplaceable Employee Data
[December 17, 2014]

Class Action Charges Sony Failed To Safeguard Critical, Irreplaceable Employee Data


Michael W. Sobol of the national plaintiffs' law firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, announced that former employees of Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. ("Sony") today filed a class action lawsuit against the company for failing to take reasonable measures to secure the data of its employees from hacking and other attacks. As a result, personally identifiable information maintained by Sony of its current and former employees and their families has been obtained and posted on websites across the Internet apparently by a group calling itself the "Guardians of Peace."

"The employee data maintained by Sony that has been hacked contains the most intimate details of the personal and professional lives of thousands of current and former Sony employees and their families," stated Sobol. "These employees are now vulnerable to cyber criminals who may use their Social Security Numbers, birth dates, medical records, and personnel data."

Among the staggering array of personally identifiable information that has been compromised are medical records, Social Security Numbers, birth dates, personal emails, home addresses, salaries, ax information, employee evaluations, disciplinary actions, criminal background checks, severance packages, and family medical histories.



The complaint, filed in federal court in Los Angeles, charges that Sony owed a duty to take reasonable step to secure the data of its employees from hacking. Sony allegedly breached this duty by failing to properly invest in adequate IT security, despite having already succumbed to one of the largest data breaches in history only three years ago. The complaint alleges that Sony's acts and omissions constituted negligence and violated California law including the California data breach notification and medical records retention statutes.

The class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of all current and former employees of Sony, and their families, within the United States whose personally identifiable information was compromised by the recent data breach. The lawsuit seeks an award of appropriate relief including damages and injunctive relief against Sony.


Persons interested in the lawsuit, as well as current and former Sony employees who wish to report their experiences, can find further information on the litigation and confidentially contact plaintiffs' attorneys at http://www.lieffcabraser.com/Case-Center/sony-data-breach.shtml.

About Lieff Cabraser

Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP is a sixty-plus attorney law firm with offices in San Francisco, New York and Nashville. Described as "one of the nation's premier plaintiffs' firms" by the American Lawyer, Lieff Cabraser is among the largest law firms in the United States that only represent plaintiffs. Lieff Cabraser is actively litigating digital privacy claims of individuals against Google (News - Alert), Facebook, and LinkedIn, among others.


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