The most obvious defense would be to file a lawsuit against the hacker who caused immense disruption to the lives of the people whom the data breach affected. This would seem like a legitimate option since the hacker—and not the company—was directly responsible for the breach.
Filing a lawsuit against the hacker, however, is not always realistic. Instead, victims of a data breach may hold the breached company liable for failing to uphold stringent security measures and thereby allowing the personal information of employees to be compromised.
An employee who decides to hold the employer liable for the damages sustained after a data breach can make specific claims. One claim involves negligence: The company was obligated to take necessary precautions to protect employee information; since it did not, the employee suffered harm.
A second possible claim is breach of contract. This claim asserts that the employer or company was under either an express or implied contract to safeguard the employee’s personal information. A breach of contract occurs immediately upon the success of a hacker’s data breach.
A data breach lawsuit can lead to significant compensation for the employee. The amount of compensation depends on the type of breach the employee became a victim of, and the damages suffered. The employee may be eligible for certain types of damages.
The wide range of damages for which a data breach victim may be eligible include the cost of replacing compromised credit or debit cards, the cost of correcting personal information damaged during the data breach, and the cost to frequently monitor credit reports and other personal information.
Financial damages are not the only outcomes of a major data breach. Employees are also likely to suffer emotional pain and can therefore be eligible for emotional damages. Emotional distress, invasion of privacy, and damage to reputation can occur after a data breach.