The world’s largest hotel chain operator, Marriott International, is facing a class action lawsuit following a data breach believed to have affected upwards of 500 million people. The suit is being brought against the hospitality industry giant by more than 150 past hotel guests at its properties. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. federal district court in the state of Maryland on January 9. This latest legal action is at least the second such lawsuit to surface in the wake of the breach disclosed end-November 2018. Legal experts say it’s a massive chargesheet that involves plaintiffs spread throughout dozens of states where the lawsuits alleges that laws were broken. It also accuses Marriott of being involved with “deceptive, unconscionable, and substantially injurious practices.” For the plaintiffs, the legal action is seeking compensatory damages as well as other forms of relief to be deemed appropriate by the court. The lawsuit also seeks an injunctive relief that would prohibit Marriott from “continuing to engage” in “unlawful acts, omissions, and practices.” The plaintiffs are represented by five law firms: DiCello Levitt & Casey LLC; Hausfeld LLP; Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC; Cohen & Gresser LLP; and Kramon & Graham PA. Marriott has declined to comment on the matter. Marriott International last year revealed personal information belonging to some 500 million former guests at its properties may have been accessed without their permission. The company is conducting investigations and cooperating with law enforcement to uncover details about what caused the breach. According to certain media reports, the hack may have been the work of hackers representing Chinese state organs. It has said that roughly 345,000 unexpired payment cards stored in its database could potentially be compromised. The first intrusion, it is said, dates back to 2014.
A class action suit is being brought against Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC , following a data breach thought to have affected around 345,000 people. The suit accuses the hotel giant of deception and "injurious" practices and seeks damages for more than 150 former guests. Marriott revealed the scale of the data breach at January 9 and said the details of around 345,000 unexpired payment cards could have been compromised. Some media outlets have suggested Chinese state hackers were responsible for the breach.