Outcome: $190 Million Settlement
In re: Capital One Consumer Data Security Breach Litigation, MDL No. 1:19-md-2915 (ED.Va.)
In response to the data breach announced at the end of July 2019, where the personal information of approximately 98 million Americans was stolen from Capital One’s AWS cloud storage, several class action lawsuits were filed against Capital One and Amazon. The lawsuits were consolidated into a multi-district litigation action in October 2019. The case involved extensive discovery, including the review of nearly 3 million pages of documents. After surviving a motion to dismiss and undergoing four mediation sessions in 2021, the parties reached a settlement agreement in January 2022.
The settlement established a $190 million fund for affected Capital One customers, allowing class members to seek reimbursement for losses directly attributable to the data breach. This settlement covered out-of-pocket expenses incurred due to the breach, ensuring that class members were fully or nearly fully reimbursed. By holding Capital One accountable, this settlement underscores the importance of companies safeguarding their customers’ data.