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

On November 30, 2022, Judge Jennifer Branch of the Court of Common Please, Hamilton County, Ohio, granted final 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.). The consolidated action involved 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 with whom Defendants entrusted their patients’ sensitive information.The Settlement, which has been completed, provided for the creation of a non-reversionary common fund of $1,950,000.00 (“Fund”), which covered all settlement costs (notice, fees, administration) and provided 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.