Last week, a Minnesota federal district court granted a motion for preliminary approval of a settlement of putative consumer class action claims against Target in the wake of a data breach at the retailer over the 2013 holiday shopping season. The settlement will provide a fund of up to $10 million to be distributed through a claims process to class members who suffered identity theft as a result of the breach. The final approval hearing is set for November 10, 2015.
The settlement comes in the wake of the district court’s ruling that various putative consumer class action claims survived the retailer’s motion to dismiss. The court also denied the retailer’s motion to dismiss claims brought on behalf of a class of banks and financial institutions for damages as a result of the data breach; those claims are not addressed in the consumer class settlement.