Michael’s Stores, Inc. was dismissed from a putative data breach class action case involving the breach of 2.6 million payment cards as the plaintiffs were unable to show that they were injured as a result of the incident.
The case follows a long list of cases that hold that plaintiffs in data breach cases do not have standing to sue under Article III unless they can show “certainly impending” harm or that “a substantial risk that harm will occur” from the incident. In this case, the Judge noted that the plaintiffs could not show that they had any out-of-pocket losses.
The case was pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, and was dismissed without prejudice. This case adds to and bolsters a consistent approach to these cases by the judiciary which will hopefully continue throughout 2016.
