On June 8, 2022, after years of hard-fought litigation, plaintiffs have achieved final approval of the class action settlement with Hudson’s Bay Company (“HBC”), owner of Saks Fifth Avenue and Saks OFF 5TH stores. Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP filed their lawsuit against the retail conglomerate on June 8, 2018, alleging that HBC failed to properly maintain adequate data security measures, leading to a massive data breach of their customers’ private personal information. As part of the settlement, HBC agreed to enact meaningful, widespread improvements to their data security measures. The settlement also provides monetary compensation, up to $5,000, for customers’ time and money spent in response to the data breach.
In granting final approval, Judge P. Kevin Castel of the Southern District of New York highlighted “the quality of representation” demonstrated in the litigation, stating that “Plaintiffs’ counsel at Faruqi and Faruqi ably advanced the interests of” the plaintiff and, “by extension, the class” by defeating HBC’s attempt to dismiss the lawsuit. Judge Castel also noted that the “plaintiffs’ firms”, including Faruqi & Faruqi, “are experienced class-action law firms with a history of representing plaintiffs in complex cases, including data-breach actions.” Timothy J. Peter served as co-lead counsel in this matter. A copy of the Court’s Order Granting Final Approval can be found here.