Newsroom

October 09, 2015

Oral arguments Oct. 22 in Home Depot suit

A federal district court judge has scheduled an Oct. 22 hearing for oral arguments on Home Depot's motion to dismiss the claims of consumers and financial institutions over the retailer's massive 2014 data breach.

The class action cites more than $150 million in damages to credit unions and community banks as a result of the 2014 Home Depot breach. It was filed in Atlanta, where the home-improvement store chain is headquartered. There are more than 100 plaintiffs, among them financial institutions in 44 states and the District of Columbia.

Judge Thomas Thrash, of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta division), has scheduled the hearing for 9:30 a.m. Eastern.

Home Depot, in seeking dismissal, has argued that plaintiffs lack standing and have no "concrete injury" as the basis of their suit. It says the financial institutions in the class have not established any specific harm traceable to its data breach.

Home Depot also continues to accuse the class of seeking compensation for "possible future harm" rather than previous injury, and it alleges that industry associations in the suit lack standing to assert that their entire memberships incurred damages.

NAFCU has expressed its support for the use of all available avenues for its members to recover their costs from the data breach. The association continues to push Congress to enact a strong national data security standard for retailers akin to what financial institutions already follow under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.