by AFGE on June 29 filed a class action lawsuit against Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Katherine Archuleta and Chief Information Officer Donna Seymour alleging that they failed to heed warnings, obey security policies, and are liable for one of the largest data breaches in U.S. history.
The union is seeking both monetary damages for every employee whose personal data has been stolen and injunction relief – steps that we want OPM to take such as sharing details on what it knows about the breach, instituting a multi-layer authentication process, encrypting Social Security numbers, and implementing an internal authentication system.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. AFGE and two individuals, Robert Crawford and Adam Dale, are represented by a legal team led by Girard Gibbs LLP, a national litigation firm representing plaintiffs in class and collective actions in state and federal courts and in arbitration matters worldwide. Girard Gibbs LLP has vast experience with cases involving cybersecurity attacks and data breaches.
If the court grants our motion for class action status, everyone whose information has been hacked will be automatically included in the lawsuit. That said, if anyone has specific questions about the lawsuit, they should send an email with their contact information to opm@girardgibbs.com.