Florida’s Watson Clinic decided to resolve its class action litigation associated with a January 2024 data breach that affected 280,278 persons for $10,000,000. The threat actors stole sensitive data, which included digital images, and published it on the dark web.
The medical group based in Lakeland serves around one million patients yearly and employs close to 1,600 team members and 350 doctors. On February 6, 2024, Watson Clinic uncovered unauthorized access to its computer network. The forensic investigation affirmed that the attackers first acquired access to the system on January 26.
The analysis of the breached files revealed that they contained the protected health information (PHI) of current and past patients, such as names, addresses, birth dates, government identifiers, Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, financial account details, and medical data, including medical record numbers, diagnoses, treatments, and pre- and/or post-operative medically required photos. Because of the PHI breach, Watson Clinic should pay attention and provide HIPAA training to its employees.
Watson Clinic got the data of the third-party file audit in July 2024, announced the data breach in August 2024, and sent breach notifications to the impacted people. Then, plaintiff Charles Viviani filed the first class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Plaintiff David Thorpe filed a second class action lawsuit in the same court. The two complaints were consolidated as Viviani v. Watson Clinic, LLP lawsuit. Watson Clinic mailed additional breach notifications in February 2025 following a further investigation into the magnitude of the data security breach.
The litigation stated claims of negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of implied contract, and violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. The defendant does not accept all material claims and allegations in the lawsuit and charges of liability or wrongdoing. Although Watson Clinic is convinced it has a strong defense against all claims, the litigation would likely be lengthy and costly, and any litigation has inherent risks. Consequently, the clinic decided to resolve the lawsuit. The class attorney feels the settlement is best for all class members.
Watson Clinic agreed to create a $10,000,000 settlement fund for payment of attorneys’ fees and expenses, settlement administration and notification costs, and service awards for the named plaintiffs. There are substantial class members’ benefits compared to many class action settlements, which include up to $75,000 cash payments for selected class members, depending on the types of digital pictures published on the dark web.
Class members whose digital photos were uploaded to the dark web will get a check without being required to submit a claim. The payment amounts are shown in the table below. Class members are entitled to be given only one of the payments below.
Types of Published Digital Pictures and Amount of Compensation
- $75,000 for full face and uncovered sensitive areas
- $40,000 for partial face and open sensitive parts
- $10,000 for no face and uncovered sensitive areas
- $10,000 for the whole face and partial clothing of sensitive parts
- $7,500 for part of the face and partial clothes of sensitive areas
- $5,000 for no face exposed and partial clothing of sensitive parts
- $100 for Non-sensitive
Aside from the one-off cash payments, class members could also file a claim for the following extra benefits:
- $500 Repayment of documented, unreimbursed ordinary losses
- $6,500 Refund of documented, unreimbursed extraordinary expenses and confirmed lost time, including approximately 5 hours of lost time valued at $25 per hour
- $50 Residual cash payment*
*The residual cash payments will be paid pro rata after deducting the costs and expenditures from the settlement fund, and digital picture exposure cash payments and claims for reimbursement of losses have been compensated. The funds will be divided equally among the class members opting to get a residual cash payment. The maximum cash payment is $50; however, it may be less, depending on the number of valid claims.
The deadline for objections and exclusion from the negotiation is January 6, 2025. The last day to file a claim is February 5, 2025, and the schedule of the final fairness hearing is March 9, 2025. More information can be read on the settlement site: https://watsondatasettlement.com/
