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UPDATE: JUDGE OKs $20 MILLION SETTLEMENT
IN VA LAPTOP
THEFT CASE -- The Judge called it a welcome deal
to settle
lawsuits after a VA employee lost a laptop
containing
sensitive personal information of millions of
veterans.
For the previous story about this settlement...
click here...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/09/
nf09/nfjan09/nf012809-3.htm
For all information about VA data thefts... click
here...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/va%2
0data%20theft%20news.htm
Latest story
here...
http://www.google.com/host
ednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gqGfy6HNMsTyA
GUesRe43dQCGsDgD968UL180
Story below:
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-------------------------
Judge OKs $20 million payment in data theft case
By HOPE YEN
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday approved the government's
plans to pay a total of $20 million to veterans exposed to possible
identity theft in 2006, calling it a welcome deal to settle lawsuits after
a Veterans Affairs employee lost a laptop containing their sensitive
personal information.
The payments will range from $75 to $1,500 for up to 26.5 million veterans
who incurred out of pocket expenses for credit monitoring or physical
symptoms of emotional distress. In exchange, lawyers for the veterans
agreed to drop their class-action lawsuit alleging invasion of privacy in
a case involving the government's largest data security breach.
"Thank you, to the government in particular, for the $20 million," said
U.S. District Judge James Robertson. "Everyone has got to like this."
The judge's move Tuesday means that lawyers will now notify veterans of
the settlement in newspapers and magazines around the country. Once
veterans submit their claims, lawyers for both sides will return to court
in July for final approval for the payments.
The lawsuit came after a VA data analyst in 2006 admitted that thieves had
taken from his home a laptop and external drive containing the names,
birth dates and Social Security numbers of veterans and active-duty
troops. The laptop was later recovered intact, but a blistering report by
the VA inspector general faulted both the VA employee and his superiors
for putting veterans at unreasonable risk.
Under the $20 million deal, lawyers for the veterans will receive up to
$5.5 million for fees and costs, while roughly $1.4 million will be spent
to notify millions of veterans and provide information about the
settlement via advertisements in newspapers, magazines and a toll-free hot
line.
Any remaining amount after claims are paid will be donated to the Fisher
House Foundation Inc., which provides temporary housing for families of
veterans receiving medical care at VA hospitals and other facilities, as
well as The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, which is building a new center in
Bethesda, Md., that will be devoted to treatment and research of traumatic
brain injury.
Because the FBI determined that the VA data had not been accessed,
Robertson said there might be some payments to veterans who were so
stressed after news of the theft that they rushed to purchase credit
monitoring. But he said he believed most of the money would probably end
up being donated to charity.
Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, who chairs the Senate Veterans Affairs
Committee, said the 2006 data theft offers an important lesson in ensuring
the government upholds its promise to protect veterans' data privacy. New
VA Secretary Eric Shinseki has said he wants to push for greater use of
electronic data as a way to reduce errors in medical care and speed
processing of claims.
"Given that this information was taken to a private residence in violation
of VA policy, the government should be held accountable," Akaka said. "VA
has improved its information protection policies since this incident, but
more must be done."
-------------------------
posted by Larry Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org
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