With COVID-19, employers are receiving and processing an ever-increasing amount of their employees' confidential health information. From COVID-19 test results to vaccination status, many employers are routinely collecting...more
UPMC’s employment records were hacked by criminals in 2014. A civil class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of approximately 66,000 employees, and criminal cases were filed by federal prosecutors against a number of...more
In this month's edition, we examine cybersecurity-related state Supreme Court rulings in Pennsylvania, Vermont and Illinois; the Department of Health and Human Services' cybersecurity guidelines for the health care industry;...more
Now a business that was hacked may be successfully sued under state common law by data subjects whose information was compromised in the crime. For the first time, a state supreme court has held that a company that was...more
Data breach liability for Pennsylvania employers of all sizes expanded with a recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision in Dittman v. UPMC. __ A.3d __, No. 43 WAP 2017, 2018 WL 6072199 (Pa. 2018). The Pennsylvania Supreme...more
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently held that employers have “a legal duty to safeguard” the personal data of their employees which is stored on internet-accessible computer systems and that the economic loss doctrine...more
Pennsylvania’s highest court recently issued a major decision that impacts employers and their storage of sensitive employee information in two important ways. First, the court imposed a new duty on employers to use...more
Recently, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania issued a landmark decision in Dittman v. UPMC, 2018 Pa. LEXIS 6051 (Pa. Nov. 21, 2018) in which employers now have an independent duty to protect employee data from cyberattacks....more
In a landmark decision with far-reaching implication, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently held that employers have an affirmative duty to protect their employees’ personal information from criminal hacking. In particular,...more
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has drastically changed the data breach litigation landscape by holding that an employer has a common law duty to use reasonable care to safeguard its employees' personal information stored on...more
While most Americans prepared for the Thanksgiving holiday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued an opinion that establishes new precedent in the ever-developing area of cybersecurity law, and also limits a longstanding tort...more
As much of the country’s workforce traveled on Wednesday for the Thanksgiving holiday, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania issued a decision that some may view as a turkey: under Pennsylvania law, employers have an independent...more
The body of cybersecurity case law continues to grow. On April 10, 2018, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court is set to hear arguments regarding employers’ liability for data breaches in Dittman v. UPMC....more