Workers Claim Employer Exposed their Personal Data

March 16, 2018

In yet another troublesome cybersecurity case, employees in Florida have filed a federal case against their employer for inadvertently disclosing their personal information.  The company on the hot seat is Lincare Holdings, Inc., a home health care corporation.  A human resources employee at the company allegedly divulged workers’ private information when someone pretending to be a company executive sent an email requesting such information.  A nationwide class of workers has filed a complaint alleging Lincare exposed employees to identity theft and other financial harm.  An attorney for the proposed class of workers indicated that the workers are worried about future issues that could result from the release of their information.  Furthermore, the workers want to see better practices from companies that handle personal data.

A key issue for Lincare is that it did not have policies or practices in place to protect against phishing emails like the one from the phony executive.  Practices like background checks and improved due diligence procedures could have protected the private information.  Additionally, the Lincare workers are alleging that their employer should have been more cautious after similar breaches have spiked since 2016 and warnings about similar phishing schemes have been issued by the FBI and IRS.

In their complaint, the employees are demanding 25 years of bank credit monitoring and restoration services.  Additionally, they are asking that Lincare adopt better data security procedures and pay the workers at least $5 million in damages.  The attorneys at Rock Fusco and Connelly have the knowledge and experience to help your business implement appropriate procedures to protect it from such attacks.

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