Personal Information was stolen due to a phishing incident with the company I worked for.
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Personal Information was stolen due to a phishing incident with the company I worked for.
Company had a data breach, emails were
stolen. They sent a paper notifying me,
am I in the right to sue? Someone might
have my email, social security, etc just
because of thier incompetence. I’m from
New Jesery.
Asked on January 5, 2019 under Employment Labor Law, New Jersey
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
No, you most likely cannot sue your employer: as you write, the information was stolen. Your employer is not responsible for the criminal actions of third parties unless you can prove that their security was badly inadequate or that they were unreasonably careless. The mere fact that the information was stolen does not prove their fault in allowing the theft to occur; you have to actually prove fault.
Further, even if they were at fault, you cannot sue over what *might* happen: there is no compensation for hypothetical or possible or theoretical losses, only for what actually does occur. Only if you suffer some loss that you can trace back to the theft of this data might you have a via le lawsuit, even if they were at fault.
Someone is to blame--the thief or criminal. That does not, unfortunately, mean they will see justice, unless identified or caught.
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