$1M Dakota Eye Institute Settlement Ends Class Action Lawsuit Over October 2023 Data Breach

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Dakota Eye Institute has agreed to a $1 million class action settlement to wrap up a lawsuit stemming from an October 2023 data breach.

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The Dakota Eye Institute class action settlement received preliminary court approval on August 20, 2025 and covers all United States residents whose private information was compromised in the Dakota Eye Institute data breach, which was disclosed to the public on or about October 31, 2023.

Court documents say there are approximately 107,143 Dakota Eye Institute settlement class members.

The court-approved website for the class action settlement can be found at DakotaEyeSecurityIncident.com.

Settlement class members who submit a timely, valid claim form with supporting documentation can receive up to $1,000 in reimbursement for ordinary out-of-pocket losses that are “fairly traceable” to the October 2023 incident.

Per settlement documents, ordinary data breach-related losses may include any unreimbursed expenses arising from identity theft, falsified tax returns, the misuse of a class member’s Social Security number, freezing or unfreezing credit, or other miscellaneous costs incurred due to the incident. Acceptable documentation for out-of-pocket-cost claims includes receipts, invoices, or any other document prepared by a third party that pertains to the expense.

Further, settlement class members may submit a claim form with supporting documentation to receive up to $5,000 in reimbursement for extraordinary monetary losses related to identity theft stemming from the Dakota Eye data breach. Per the settlement website, a class member seeking reimbursement for extraordinary losses must show that:

• The loss is an actual, documented and unreimbursed monetary loss arising out of or relating to identity theft;
• The loss is traceable to the Dakota Eye data breach;
• The loss occurred between October 1, 2023 and the claim deadline;
• The loss is not already covered by the other reimbursement categories; and
• The class member made reasonable efforts to avoid the loss.

In addition to cash payments, the Dakota Eye Institute class action settlement offers two years of one-bureau credit monitoring, which includes $1,000,000 in fraud insurance with no premium.

The settlement website also says that eligible class members, in lieu of credit monitoring services, may elect to receive an alternative cash payment of $45, the amount of which may be increased or decreased depending on the total number of claims filed.

To submit a Dakota Eye claim form online, class members can visit this page and enter the unique claim ID and PIN as found on their copy of the settlement notice. Alternatively, class members can download a PDF of the claim form to print, fill out and return to the settlement administrator.

All Dakota Eye Institute claim forms must be submitted online or postmarked by January 12, 2026.

Court documents note that any money remaining in the settlement fund after all cash benefits, credit monitoring and administrative and legal expenses are paid will be distributed to a court-approved charity as a cy pres award.

A hearing is scheduled for January 12, 2026 to determine whether the Dakota Eye Institute data breach settlement will receive final approval from the court. Settlement benefits will begin to be distributed to class members only after final approval has been granted and any appeals have been resolved.

The Dakota Eye Institute class action lawsuit alleged that the healthcare provider was aware of the risk of a data breach long before it happened. The plaintiff in the case argued that Dakota Eye failed to implement effective safeguards and protections for the personal information in its care.

Head to ClassAction.org’s settlements page for a complete list of data breach settlements.