Gas South will pay up to $897,500 to settle class action litigation over a 2022 data breach that affected almost 39,000 customers.
A Cobb County judge gave final approval on Jan. 19 of a settlement negotiated by the Atlanta-headquartered natural gas company and four customers who sued it on behalf of all those whose personal information was compromised in the cyberattack.
Under the settlement, each affected Gas South customer can claim up to $3,250 for reimbursement of certain losses and expenses caused by the February 2022 data breach, including those related to fraud and identity theft. Customers can also receive up to two years of free credit monitoring and identity protection services.
The deadline for submitting a claim is Feb. 1.
“Even though Gas South denies all allegations of wrongdoing or liability, Gas South is pleased to have reached a resolution,” the company told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a statement Wednesday. “It’s our core belief that how we treat people is what’s most important, including our customers.”
Customers’ personal information compromised in the Gas South attack included their names, addresses, social security numbers, birth dates, and driver’s license numbers, case records show.
Gas South said in court filings that it has and will continue to take steps to improve its data security.
Cybersecurity attacks have hit a wide range of businesses and organizations. In the past year alone, data breaches were reported by the University System of Georgia, a vendor for the Georgia Teachers Retirement System, Mercer University, Atlanta-based medical software company NextGen Healthcare, Toccoa-based consumer lender 1st Franklin Financial and locally headquartered restaurant chain Chick-fil-A.
Settlement documents state 38,992 customers were impacted when cybercriminals gained unauthorized access to Gas South’s technology systems over 10 days in February 2022.
The company became aware of suspicious activity on Feb. 21, 2022, and began notifying affected customers in July of that year, case records show. At that time, Gas South offered affected customers 12 months of free credit monitoring.
In August and September of 2022, two proposed class action lawsuits were brought against Gas South over the hack. Those cases were consolidated before Judge Kimberly A. Childs in the Cobb County Superior Court in June, following mediation.
Under the settlement, Gas South will cap the amount it pays to claimants at $590,000. It will additionally pay $300,000 in attorney fees and litigation costs to the lawyers who represented the plaintiffs. And those four customers will each receive $1,875 for their role as class representatives.
Affected customers were sent notice of the settlement at the beginning of November, when a settlement website and a toll-free number were also established, case records show.
Two class members elected to opt out of the settlement by the Dec. 20 deadline and can pursue separate civil claims against Gas South if they wish. No formal objections to the settlement were lodged.
A settlement administrator reported that almost 800 claims had been submitted by Jan. 8.
Gas South serves more than 470,000 residential, commercial, industrial and wholesale customers nationwide, according to its website. It says it is the largest retail natural gas company in Georgia and the Southeast.
The plaintiffs claimed the vast majority of Gas South customers affected by the February 2022 data breach were Georgia residents. They alleged that Gas South failed to properly protect customers’ personal information, which the company denied.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs did not respond to questions about the settlement.
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