Eye Physicians of Central Florida Data Breach Settlement
Eye Physicians of Central Florida has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit stemming from a 2023 data breach that affected more than 31,000 patients. Eye Physicians of Central Florida identified suspicious activity within its computer network on November 5, 2023, and confirmed access by an unauthorized third party. The data breach affected 31,189 patients, according to the breach notice submitted to the HHS’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR).
The hackers gained access to systems containing names, addresses, dates of birth, medical diagnosis and treatment information, provider names, patient ID numbers, procedure codes, dates of service, treatment cost information, financial account information, state ID, health insurance information, and/or prescription information.
A class action lawsuit – Connell v. Eye Physicians of Central Florida, P.L.C. – was filed in the Circuit Court for Orange County, Florida, by plaintiff Alisa Connell individually and on behalf of similarly situated individuals who had data exposed in the incident. Eye Physicians of Central Florida sought to have the lawsuit dismissed, and was partially successful, although the lawsuit was allowed to proceed, and the plaintiff filed an amended complaint asserting claims for negligence and breach of fiduciary duty.
The lawsuit was actively litigated for 18 months, then all parties engaged in private mediation, resulting in a settlement that was agreeable to all parties. Eye Physicians of Central Florida maintains there was no wrongdoing, believes there is no liability, and denies and continues to deny all claims and allegations in the lawsuit.
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The settlement provides multiple benefits for the class members. Class members are entitled to claim two years of credit monitoring and identity theft protection services, which include a $1 million identity theft insurance policy. In addition, a claim may be submitted for reimbursement of documented, unreimbursed losses due to the data breach and attested lost time of up to three hours at $25 per hour. Claims for reimbursement of losses are capped at $2,000 per class member for ordinary losses and $7,500 for extraordinary losses. There is no alternative cash payment.
