Court Preliminarily Approves $1.95 Million Settlement In In RE: Southern Ohio Health Systems Data Breach Litigation

On August 2, 2022, Judge Jennifer Branch of the Court of Common Please, Hamilton County, Ohio, granted preliminary approval to a nationwide class action settlement negotiated by Goldenberg Schneider and its co-counsel in In re Southern Ohio Health Systems Data Breach, No. A2101886 (Hamilton Cty. C.P.). That consolidated action involves two related class action lawsuits against Defendants Adena Health System (“Adena”) and TriHealth, Inc. (“TriHealth”) (collectively, “Defendants”) alleging that Defendants failed to protect their patients’ sensitive information from a recent criminal hacking and ransomware attack that targeted a law firm, Bricker & Eckler, with whom Defendants entrusted their patients’ sensitive information.

The proposed Settlement provides for the creation of a non-reversionary common fund of $1,950,000.00 (“Fund”), which will cover all settlement costs (notice, fees, administration) and provide two separate forms of relief to approximately 420,433 class members: (1) reimbursement for loss of time compensated at $20.00 per hour for up to 4 hours ($80 cap) for undocumented time, and $20 per hour for up to 8 additional hours ($160 cap) for documented time; and (2) reimbursement for documented out-of-pocket expenses and financial losses up to $5,000.00 per claimant.

The Court has scheduled a Final Approval Hearing for November 17, 2022. Additional information about the settlement and instructions on how to submit a claim for benefits will be made available www.southernohiohealthsystemsdatabreachsettlement.com no later than September 22, 2022.