Fidelity Investments has been sued over a recently reported data breach by plaintiffs who claim damages ranging from “emotional distress” to spending several hours addressing the potential impact of the data breach, “which has taken valuable time away from other activities such as work and recreation.”
The lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, was filed Oct. 10 in a U.S. District Court in Boston by Yaakov Gluck and Seth Gluck, both of Spring Valley, N.Y., who describe themselves as Fidelity customers. The lawsuit didn’t provide information about their investments or allegations of specific dollar damages.
The plaintiffs referenced an Oct. 9 report that 77,099 Fidelity customers were subject to a cyberattack between Aug. 17 and Aug. 19, according to a notice Fidelity filed with the Office of the Maine Attorney General.
“The incident did not involve any access to Fidelity customers’ accounts or funds,” Fidelity said in a statement when the breach was disclosed. “We recognize our customers may have questions about this event, and we have resources in place to assist them. Fidelity takes its responsibility to serve customers and safeguard information seriously.”
Fidelity said it was not aware of any misuse of the stolen personal data, but it arranged for investors to enroll in a free credit-monitoring and identity-restoration service for 24 months with TransUnion Interactive.
Fidelity’s response wasn't good enough for the plaintiffs in Gluck et al. vs. Fidelity Investments.
“Plaintiffs experienced an uptick of spam calls which has caused emotional distress, including worry of fraud, annoyance, anxiety, and stress,” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit accused Fidelity of “failing to provide fair, reasonable, or adequate computer systems and security practices to safeguard the personal information of plaintiffs."
Representatives of Fidelity did not respond to a request for comment.
