Ride the Lightning

Law Firm Defending Client Against Data Breach Claim Leaks Data Itself

June 3, 2021

Yeah, you can’t make it up . . .

As Above the Law reported on May 25, Goldberg Segalla is now a defendant in a suit by Stephanie Hoffman. Hoffman is the plaintiff in a putative class action against Goldberg client Major Model Management for a breach that “exposed their personal information, including place of birth, date of birth, nationality, permanent address, cell number, email address, Social Security number, signature, passport numbers and actual copies of Social Security cards and passports,” according to Law360.

In its motion to dismiss, Goldberg filed an agreement that contained Hoffman’s Social Security number, birthdate, addresses, telephone numbers, and pictures of her passport without any redaction.

A partially redacted version was subsequently filed, but Hoffman argues that the new redactions still included problematic disclosures and that the unredacted version remained accessible for almost two months after filing.

As the Above the Law article notes, it is somewhat easy to understand flubbing redaction in producing millions of pages of discovery. But this was a motion to dismiss – pretty self-contained. Who reviewed this document before filing with personal information unredacted? And it would have been prudent, in a case involving a data breach claim, not to leak data about someone who obviously is more likely than most to file a lawsuit.

Sharon D. Nelson, Esq., President, Sensei Enterprises, Inc.
3975 University Drive, Suite 225|Fairfax, VA 22030
Email:  Phone: 703-359-0700
Digital Forensics/Cybersecurity/Information Technology
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