Okanogan Behavioral Healthcare, a provider of holistic behavioral health services in Okanogan County, Washington, has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit stemming from a May 2024 data breach that affected 26,429 individuals. A network intrusion was identified on May 15, 2024, and the forensic investigation determined that an unauthorized third party had access to its network from May 13, 2024, to May 15, 2024.
Data exposed in the incident included client names, contact information, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, other identification numbers, and medical information, including diagnosis and treatment information, and health insurance information. The affected individuals started to be notified on August 23, 2024. A lawsuit was filed – Doe v.
Okanogan Behavioral Healthcare – in the Superior Court of the State of Washington for the County of Okanogan in response to the data breach, alleging that the data breach was due to the failure of the defendant to implement reasonable and appropriate cybersecurity measures, and had they been implemented, the data breach could have been prevented. Okanogan Behavioral Healthcare denies wrongdoing and liability, and disagrees with all claims and contentions in the lawsuit; however, a settlement was agreed to avoid further litigation costs and the uncertainty of a trial and associated appeals.
Okanogan Behavioral Healthcare has agreed to cover attorneys’ fees and expenses, settlement notification and administration costs, and a service award for the class representative. Under the terms of the settlement, class members may submit a claim for reimbursement of losses due to the data breach and/or an alternative cash payment or credit monitoring services.
Claims may be submitted for reimbursement of documented, unreimbursed ordinary losses, up to a maximum of $300 per class member, and extraordinary losses up to a maximum of $5,000 per class member. A claim may also be submitted for an alternative cash payment, anticipated to be $50 per class member, or two years of credit monitoring services. The maximum claim is therefore $5,300 plus $50, or $5,300 plus credit monitoring services.
The deadline for objection to the settlement and exclusion is August 4, 2026. The deadline for submitting a claim is September 3, 2026, and the final approval hearing has been scheduled for September 3, 2026. The post Okanogan Behavioral Healthcare Settles Class Action Data Breach Lawsuit appeared first on The HIPAA Journal .
Originally published at hipaajournal.com
