A federal magistrate judge in Manhattan has granted final approval to a $10.5 million class action settlement with insurer Lemonade, Inc., resolving claims that a feature on the company’s website allowed people to see customers’ driver’s license numbers. Plaintiffs Brian Murray and Leslie Linwood Rich, who sued on behalf of themselves and others in the same position, claimed that Lemonade’s website would show a person’s driver’s license number to anyone who typed in that person’s name and address. They also alleged that people used the tool to pull license numbers belonging to approximately 190,000 customers. The suit brought claims under the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act, New York’s General Business Law and Connecticut’s Unfair Trade Practices Act, along with claims of negligence and negligence per se. The court granted preliminary approval of the settlement in May 2026 and final approval on September 10, 2026, at a fairness hearing where the Plaintiffs’ Motion for Final Approval of the Settlement and Motion for Attorneys’ Fees were unopposed. According to the opinion and order, the settlement class includes all living U.S. residents whose personal information was exposed, including individuals who were sent notice of the data exposure.
Under the deal, the $10.5 million settlement fund will first cover administration costs, service awards, court-approved legal fees and expenses, and taxes. The rest will be used, among other things, to fund credit monitoring and cash payments to class members. In addition to establishing a settlement fund, Lemonade agreed to make security changes to better protect customer data and to keep those measures in place for at least three years. The settlement also provides that any leftover funds will be shared among class members with approved claims and then paid out to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit organization. Class members who opted to receive cash payments are expected to receive about $429 each. The court also approved $3.5 million in attorneys’ fees, which is one-third of the fund, along with $22,268 in costs and service awards of $2,000 for each of the two named plaintiffs.
Order & Opinion Approving Settlement & Attorneys’ Fees & Costs