The Cook County Circuit Court recently approved a $900,000 class action settlement with defendant Bansley and Kiener, LLP, a Chicago-based accounting firm, to resolve allegations that Bansley failed to adequately protect the personal information of almost 275,000 class members in connection with a December 2020 data breach of Bansley’s computer systems. According to court documents, unauthorized parties accessed the company’s databases and acquired the personal information of Bansley’s customers, including names, birth dates and Social Security numbers — and Bansley failed to timely investigate and remediate the incident or inform affected customers. Bansley has denied all allegations of wrongdoing and liability throughout the litigation.
The consolidated class action complaint was filed on behalf of affected Bansley customers on June 21, 2021, seeking redress for Bansley’s late response to the data breach and its delayed announcement to affected customers. Under the settlement, each class member will receive one year of identity theft protection, out-of-pocket ordinary expenses up to $1000, and extraordinary expenses of up to $5000 for those who have suffered identity fraud. Banlsey also agreed to implement a variety of enhanced data security measures.
Plaintiff’s Unopposed Motion and Memo in Support of Final Approval of Class Action Settlement