Judge: Hannaford not liable for data breach
A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Hannaford Bros. Co. in Scarborough will face legal action from only one plaintiff for its role in an electronic data breach that began in 2007.
U.S. District Court Judge D. Brock Hornby in his 39-page decision dismissed nearly all of the civil claims filed against the supermarket company alleging that it failed to protect and notify consumers of the breach. Only Pamela Lamotte of Colchester, Vt., the one claimant who was not reimbursed by her bank for fraudulent charges, will be allowed to proceed with her claim. Shoppers who cited inconvenience or distress as a result of the breach have no legitimate claims, Hornby said in the ruling.
Lawsuits from Hannaford shoppers in several states were consolidated last summer into one complaint with 21 plaintiffs. They sought damages for the cost and lost time related to the theft of personal information, and wanted Hannaford held liable for waiting at least three weeks to publicly announce the security breach after company officials learned of it.
Between Dec. 7, 2007, and March 10, 2008, when the breach was disclosed, hackers stole Hannaford shoppers' credit and debit card numbers and made about 1,800 fraudulent charges. More than four million card numbers were exposed.
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