In re: Sonic Corp. Customer Data Breach Litigation – Financial Institutions Track, MDL Case No. 1:17-md-02807-JSG (N.D. Ohio)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO
- A settlement has been proposed in a class action lawsuit against Sonic LLC (f/k/a Sonic Corp.), Sonic Industries Services Inc., Sonic Capital LLC, Sonic Franchising LLC, Sonic Industries LLC, and Sonic Restaurants, Inc. (collectively, “the Sonic Defendants”) regarding the third-party cyberattack targeting the point-of-sale systems of Sonic Drive-Ins believed to have occurred from April 7, 2017 through October 28, 2017 (the “Data Breach”).
- The lawsuit, called In re: Sonic Corp. Customer Data Breach Litigation – Financial Institutions Track, MDL Case No. 1:17-md-02807-JSG (N.D. Ohio), alleges that the Sonic Defendants are legally responsible for the Data Breach and asserts claims for negligence and negligence per se. The Sonic Defendants deny these allegations.
- Plaintiffs brought the action as a class action on behalf of themselves and other similarly situated financial institutions allegedly affected by the Data Breach.
- If the Settlement becomes effective, the Sonic Defendants will pay, on a claims-made basis, up to $3,000,000 to fund distributions to those financial institutions who submit timely and valid claims, are covered by the Settlement, and do not exclude themselves from the Settlement.
- Your financial institution may have received a notice because it may be one of the financial institutions covered by the Settlement.
Your financial institution’s legal rights will be affected, whether it acts or not, if it is covered by the Settlement and the Settlement becomes effective. Read the notice carefully.
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YOUR FINANCIAL INSTITUTION’S LEGAL RIGHTS AND OPTIONS IN THIS SETTLEMENT |
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SUBMIT A CLAIM FORM |
If your financial institution is covered by the Settlement, does not ask to be excluded, and submits a valid claim, it will receive a cash payment if the Settlement becomes effective. Submitting a claim is the only way for covered financial institutions to receive a payment as part of the Settlement. |
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EXCLUDE YOURSELF |
If your financial institution timely and validly asks to be excluded from the Settlement, it will not receive a cash payment but may still be able to file its own lawsuit against the Sonic Defendants for the Data Breach. If the Settlement becomes effective, excluding your financial institution from the Settlement is the only option that allows it to file or be part of another lawsuit against the Sonic Defendants concerning the claims being resolved by the Settlement. |
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OBJECT |
If your financial institution is covered by the Settlement and does not ask to be excluded, it can file an objection telling the Court in charge of the litigation why it doesn’t like the Settlement. It can also ask to speak in Court about its objection(s) to the Settlement. |
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DO NOTHING |
If your financial institution is covered by the Settlement and does nothing, it will not receive a cash payment and, if the Settlement becomes effective, it will give up its rights to be part of any other lawsuit against the Sonic Defendants concerning the claims being resolved in the Settlement. |
- These rights and options–and the deadlines to exercise them–are explained in the Notice.
- The Court in charge of the litigation still needs to decide whether to approve the Settlement. Payments otherwise due under the Settlement will not be made unless and until that Court approves the Settlement and any appeals from that Court’s approval are resolved in a way that upholds the Settlement, whereupon the Settlement will become effective. Please be patient.