Genetic testing company 23andMe and similar organizations have been providing customers with information about their genetic background for years. It is clear that sending genetic material to a company requires a great deal of trust.
Unfortunately, that trust has broken down for some customers. In 2023, 23andMe experienced a data security incident that exposed the personal information of up to 6 million customers. This highly sensitive personal information included health, genetic, and ethnic information.
Some of this information was reportedly leaked onto the dark web.
If you are one of the affected customers, you may be eligible for a significantly larger settlement.
23andMe class action lawsuit settlement
23andMe has agreed to a $30 million settlement to end a class action lawsuit over data breaches.
Affected customers may be eligible for compensation of up to $10,000. (Additional benefits Additional for residents of Alaska, California, Oregon, and Illinois. )
The settlement still needs to be fully approved before any claims can be made. Plaintiffs are represented by Gayle M. Blatt of Casey Gerry Shenk Francavilla Blatt & Penfield LLP, Cari Campen Laufenberg of Keller Rohrback LLP, and Norman E. Siegel of Stueve Siegel. Hanson LLP.
Please check back here when the link becomes available.
How does a class action lawsuit work?
Class action law has evolved over the past several decades. However, there are specific rules binding on class actions known as Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The Legal Information Institute indicates that a court must find out in order to authorize a class action lawsuit:
- Due to the large number of class members, it is not practical to participate in the action
- Collective participants’ claims share a common question of law or fact
- The claims or defenses of proposed class representatives are typical of the claims or defenses of the remaining members of the class;
- The proposed class representative will adequately protect the interests of the class as a whole.
In other words, for a judgment to have approximately the same impact on all class participants, all plaintiffs must have sufficiently similar claims for damages. The question then comes before the court: Did all of these plaintiffs actually suffer similar harm from the defendant?
How long does a class action lawsuit take?
Again, the answer is “it depends.”
In some cases, the answer is 10 minutes. A defendant can end a lawsuit before it begins by settling with the plaintiff. Usually this means payment. According to Top Class Action, Settlements are usually It can take up to 9 months or a year.
But if a class action lawsuit goes to trial, the timeline is several years, typically two to three years, according to the Cochrane office.
