Wellstar agrees to pay $4.25 million in privacy class action deal
Wellstar Health System agreed to pay $4.25 million to settle a class action accusing the company of disclosing protected health information to third parties such as Meta Platforms and Google on Wednesday, according to court documents.
The lawsuit, which began in April 2024 and became a class action about three months later, says Wellstar installed Google and Meta collection tools on its public website and “Wellstar MyChart” patient portal and then gave the data collected through these tracking technologies to multiple third parties. Approximately 870,000 people had their data exposed from Feb. 19, 2020 until July 22, 2026, according to the suit.
The deal filed in court this week is a proposal that must be approved by a judge.
“The proposed settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing, and the court did not find any wrongdoing on the part of Wellstar,” a spokesperson for the company told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Given the uncertainty and cost of litigation, we believe resolving this matter is in the best interests of the parties. We remain committed to safeguarding the privacy of our patients and maintaining the trust they place in us every day.”
Representatives for the four people who led the suit did not respond to requests for comment.
Google and Meta also did not respond to requests for comment.
The plaintiffs accused Wellstar of invasion of privacy, breach of confidence, negligence, negligence per se, breach of implied contract, breach of contract, unjust enrichment and violation of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act.
But a judge granted dismissal of most of those claims in August, leaving just the ECPA and unjust enrichment claims standing, court records show.
An initial agreement was reached on June 17 after a day-long mediation brokered by Bennett Picker of Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young LLP. That agreement was negotiated down to the $4.25 million in the settlement weeks later.
The parties are now awaiting a date for the final approval hearing for the court to approve or reject the settlement agreement.
Payouts will only be available to those affected who live in the U.S. if the agreement is approved, according to the court documents. They will have 75 days to complete a claim form from the time they are notified either through email or U.S. mail. The documents also say a settlement website, toll free number and P.O. box will be established for them to submit their claims.