Government Employee Sues United States, Fed. Agencies Over 2015 Data Breach [UPDATE]

The official website for the $63 million U.S. Office of Personnel Management data breach settlement is live and can be found here: 

https://www.opmdatabreach.com/

To submit a claim, head to this page and click the “Start Your Claim” button at the top of the page to begin.

The deadline by which to file a claim online or by mail is December 23, 2022. If you do nothing, you will receive no money from the settlement and be unable to sue the defendants in the future for the conduct alleged in the lawsuit. 

To be eligible to receive payment, your personal information must have been compromised in the data breaches at issue and you must also have suffered an out-of-pocket expense or lost compensable time buying identity theft monitoring products; accessing, freezing or unfreezing a credit report; or dealing with identity theft.

A final approval hearing is set for October 14, 2022. Money from the settlement should begin to be distributed following final approval and pending the resolution of any appeals in favor of the deal. The settlement website asks claimants to “[p]lease be patient.” 

To contact the settlement administrator, head to this page.

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The proposed class action detailed on this page and several others filed over the 2015 United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) data breach have been settled for $63 million. 

The deal, which received preliminary approval from U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson on June 7, 2022, covers all U.S. citizens and permanent residents whose personal information was compromised as a result of the breaches of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s electronic information systems in 2014 and 2015, or the breach of security contractor Peraton Risk Decision’s electronic information systems in 2013 and 2014. These individuals must have, after May 7, 2014, incurred out-of-pocket expenses or loss of compensable time buying credit or identity theft monitoring products; accessing, freezing or unfreezing a credit report with a credit reporting agency; or dealing with an identity theft incident or the mitigation of one.  

Individuals who did not experience “one of the forms of loss” as a result of the OMP data breach are not eligible to file claims for compensation. 

According to court documents, the OPM data breach allegedly compromised the personal information of approximately 22 million people, which indicates that there may be thousands of individuals covered by the deal. The plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary approval relays that those who submit a valid claim for compensation may be able to recover anywhere from $700 to $10,000 each.

An official settlement website is slated to be set up and go live by mid-June, and notice of the deal is to be sent out no later than July 6. A final fairness hearing is scheduled for October 14, 2022.

All claims must be submitted online or by mail by December 23, 2022.

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