Could my small claims case become null and void?

[Hopkins21]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA

Hi. I submitted my case against Equifax Friday to small claims.

Is there any chance my case gets invalidated by equifax making a motion to move all the small claims cases to a larger court case? Thanks

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA

Hi. I submitted my case against Equifax Friday to small claims.

Is there any chance my case gets invalidated by equifax making a motion to move all the small claims cases to a larger court case? Thanks

Equifax can move to have the case heard in a higher court. That does not "invalidate" your suit.

You really should have added this question to your other thread - https://forum.freeadvice.com/small-claims-courts-24/equifax-small-claim-claim-638201.html

 

[Hopkins21]

Equifax can move to have the case heard in a higher court. That does not "invalidate" your suit.

You really should have added this question to your other thread - https://forum.freeadvice.com/small-claims-courts-24/equifax-small-claim-claim-638201.html

How would this affect my "cash award" if they move the case? Would I be lumped into some class action , or would my same suit just be heard in a different court?

Duly noted about the thread continuation, honestly did not want to bump if up because too many specifics.

 

[Taxing Matters]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA

Hi. I submitted my case against Equifax Friday to small claims.

Is there any chance my case gets invalidated by equifax making a motion to move all the small claims cases to a larger court case? Thanks

Without actually reading your complaint, there is no way to say what may happen. Have you suffered any provable damages already from the Equifax data breach? If the answer is no then the complaint may be subject to outright dismissal.

 

[quincy]

How would this affect my "cash award" if they move the case? Would I be lumped into some class action , or would my same suit just be heard in a different court?

Duly noted about the thread continuation, honestly did not want to bump if up because too many specifics.

First, your small claims case would not turn into a class action suit.

And Equifax would need some reason for removal of the suit from small claims. For example, Equifax could file a counterclaim that exceeds the small claims limit.

But a counterclaim needs to have some merit. A defendant with an attorney cannot hope to win a case based solely on a move of the plaintiff's case to a court requiring greater knowledge of the laws and rules and procedures. That tactic does not fly well in New York.

Instead, New York small claims courts have handled these motions for removal in different ways. Sometimes the small claims suit will continue to be heard in the small claims court and only the counterclaim will be removed to a court with a higher jurisdictional limit. Or the defendant must agree to limit the amount of recovery to the small claims limit. Or both the small claims suit and the counterclaim will be heard in the higher court but under small claims rules.

 

[Hopkins21]

Without actually reading your complaint, there is no way to say what may happen. Have you suffered any provable damages already from the Equifax data breach? If the answer is no then the complaint may be subject to outright dismissal.

I don't want to share my wording, but argued "gross neglect" caused my data to be exposed to criminals (not installing patch they had since March to fix Apache software vulnerability until 1 day after data stole , admitted to in own company statement), and argued offer of only 1 year identity protection with a company they own was inadequate since criminals have my data to use for more than 1 year and I should be able to choose identify company I trust, choose lifelock plan for term of 36 years and wanted cash to pay for that if I choose.

Thjnk I can win with this?

 

[Taxing Matters]

I don't want to share my wording, but argued "gross neglect" caused my data to be exposed to criminals (not installing patch they had since March to fix Apache software vulnerability until 1 day after data stole , admitted to in own company statement), and argued offer of only 1 year identity protection with a company they own was inadequate since criminals have my data to use for more than 1 year and I should be able to choose identify company I trust, choose lifelock plan for term of 36 years and wanted cash to pay for that if I choose.

Thjnk I can win with this?

Based on that, no. You have not stated any provable damages, i.e. actual damages suffered as a result of the data breach. You don’t win any money in a lawsuit on the possibility that you may have damages in the future. You must already have suffered damages that you can prove. The company does not owe you any fraud monitoring in the first place, so the court cannot award you the credit monitoring of your choice nor can it award you the cash to pay for that. It may be that you will never suffer any damages from the breach, and until you do the company owes you nothing and thus you have nothing to sue for until you suffer those damages.

 

[quincy]

I don't want to share my wording, but argued "gross neglect" caused my data to be exposed to criminals (not installing patch they had since March to fix Apache software vulnerability until 1 day after data stole , admitted to in own company statement), and argued offer of only 1 year identity protection with a company they own was inadequate since criminals have my data to use for more than 1 year and I should be able to choose identify company I trust, choose lifelock plan for term of 36 years and wanted cash to pay for that if I choose.

Thjnk I can win with this?

If you have sufficient evidence to back your claims, you have a good chance of being successful. I disagree with TM.

Equifax is not in an enviable position right now. Those who paid extra for the LifeLock* security did not receive what they paid for.

I DO think you should have waited to see how Equifax responds to the suits already filed against it, though.


*edit to add: LifeLock signed a 4 year contract with Equifax in 2015.

 

[Taxing Matters]

If you have sufficient evidence to back your claims, you have a good chance of being successful. I disagree with TM.

And what is the basis of the claim that you think has merit? Absent a provision for statutory damages the general rule in a tort case is that the court may only award money damages for actual harm suffered, not the possibility of harm suffered. Do you disagree with that? I’d be very curious on what basis you think the court would award money damages when no provable harm has been suffered.

Equifax is not in an enviable position right now. Those who paid extra for their security did not receive what they paid for.

They may not have gotten what they paid, but again, even in a breach of contract claim, if they do not suffer any damages from it, there is nothing for the court to award.

ETA: And I'd be curious if the OP even has the evidence currently to show that his information was part of the data stolen breach. If he cannot prove that, he has no where to go.

 

[Hopkins21]

Based on that, no. You have not stated any provable damages, i.e. actual damages suffered as a result of the data breach. You don’t win any money in a lawsuit on the possibility that you may have damages in the future. You must already have suffered damages that you can prove. The company does not owe you any fraud monitoring in the first place, so the court cannot award you the credit monitoring of your choice nor can it award you the cash to pay for that. It may be that you will never suffer any damages from the breach, and until you do the company owes you nothing and thus you have nothing to sue for until you suffer those damages.

Per their website, when I enter my name and 4 digits of my social, it tells me I was one of the people effected by the breach. Even if the law disagrees, common sense says of course they owe me credit monitoring services, they were supposed to be guardians of my private data and failed, not because of smart criminals but because of stupid neglect

 

[Hopkins21]

ETA: And I'd be curious if the OP even has the evidence currently to show that his information was part of the data stolen breach. If he cannot prove that, he has no where to go.

Yes I have evidence my information was stolen, please see previous post

 

[Hopkins21]

*edit to add: LifeLock signed a 4 year contract with Equifax in 2015.

"TrustedID", a company Equifax created and owns, is who they are offering 1 year of identity protection services with, not lifelock. I do not want to work with a company owned by the idiots at equifax

 

[quincy]

And what is the basis of the claim that you think has merit? Absent a provision for statutory damages the general rule in a tort case is that the court may only award money damages for actual harm suffered, not the possibility of harm suffered. Do you disagree with that? I’d be very curious on what basis you think the court would award money damages when no provable harm has been suffered.



They may not have gotten what they paid, but again, even in a breach of contract claim, if they do not suffer any damages from it, there is nothing for the court to award.

ETA: And I'd be curious if the OP even has the evidence currently to show that his information was part of the data stolen breach. If he cannot prove that, he has no where to go.

A refund from Equifax for payments made to LifeLock for its failure to secure as promised (and ordered by FTC) the personal information of those who paid for the security.

Because the data breach affects over 143 million people, it is a good bet that Hopkins information has been compromised.

 

[Taxing Matters]

Even if the law disagrees, common sense says of course they owe me credit monitoring services, they were supposed to be guardians of my private data and failed, not because of smart criminals but because of stupid neglect

It’s a good thing for the company to offer as it can help the company reduce the damages the affected persons suffer, thus reducing its exposure for liability later in a lawsuit. So it is a smart move by the company. But again, no law requires it and thus the court cannot order the company to provide any credit monitoring, much less the credit monitoring you favor.

 

[Hopkins21]

. But again, no law requires it and thus the court cannot order the company to provide any credit monitoring, much less the credit monitoring you favor.

Unless I'm mistaken, all I have to prove at the small claims level is gross neglect and justify damages? A judge has to agree that fair compensation from equifax is 36 years of $300 a month credit monitoring service to protect my information that they let be stolen and I will win, right?