Ernest Health Sued Over 2024 Ransomware Attack and Data Breach
The Texas health system Ernest Health is being sued by patients who had their protected health information compromised in a recent cyberattack. This is likely to be one of many lawsuits filed against Ernest Health over the theft of at least 97,078 patients’ data. Ernest Health operates hospitals in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Montana, New Mexico, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. On February 1, 2024, suspicious activity was detected in its networks, with the investigation confirming there had been unauthorized access to its network between January 16, 2024, and February 4, 2024. The LockBit ransomware group claimed responsibility for the attack and threatened to publish the stolen data on its leak site. Ernest Health said the compromised information included names, contact information, dates of birth, health plan IDs, health data, Social Security numbers, and driver’s license numbers.
A lawsuit has been filed by Joe Lara and Lauri Cook on behalf of themselves and similarly situated individuals who had their personal and protected health information compromised in the Ernest Health cyberattack. The lawsuit alleges that Ernest Health lost control of the data of current and former patients due to insufficient cybersecurity safeguards and a lack of cybersecurity training for its employees, which meant it had no effective means to prevent, detect, or stop the attack. The plaintiffs argue that it took 73 days from the initial compromise for Ernest Health to issue individual notifications, which denied them the opportunity to mitigate their injuries in a timely manner.
While Ernest Health said it has implemented additional safeguards in response to the breach, the plaintiffs claim the health system has done too little, too late, and that the offer of credit monitoring and identity theft protection services is wholly insufficient. The lawsuit alleges negligence, negligence per se, breach of implied contract, invasion of privacy, unjust enrichment, and breach of fiduciary duty and seeks a jury trial, declaratory and other equitable relief, injunctive relief, and compensatory, exemplary, punitive damages, and statutory damages. The plaintiffs and class are represented by Joe Kendall of the Kendall Law Group, and Samuel J. Strauss and Raina Borrelli of the law firm, Turke & Strauss.
