Ken Dort Quoted in Modern Healthcare February 2015

Chicago partner Ken Dort was quoted in an article for Modern Healthcare titled, “Anthem in Legal Crosshairs as Three Class-Action Lawsuits Filed Over Breach.”

The article discussed how three class-action lawsuits have been filed against Anthem following a cyber-attack that exposed the personal information of 78 million current and former members—with more lawsuits likely. The class-action suits were filed less than 24 hours after news of the breach first broke, in federal courts in Alabama, California and Indiana.

It’s entirely possible that a jury might find Anthem liable for the breach, said Ken. But obtaining damages from of Anthem for the breach would be a different matter. The plaintiffs would have to show that the harm incurred by them was directly traceable to the data breach, he said.

“That is very, very difficult to show. You essentially have to prove that the difficulties someone is now experiencing can be tied directly back to the breach of Anthem. That’s almost impossible to show because every one of us has our social security number out on a variety of fronts. It’s very difficult, particularly if any group of plaintiffs in a class has been involved in a breach before,” Ken said.

To view the entire article in Modern Healthcare, click here.