Thomsen v Morley

The Plaintiffs allege that on or about August 1, 2021, an unauthorized user launched a ransomware-type malware attack on Morley’s network and computer systems, which potentially resulted in unauthorized access to the Private Information (Social Security numbers, names, addresses, dates of birth, driver’s license numbers, client identification numbers, medical diagnostic and treatment information, and health insurance information) of Settlement Class Members.

The Defendant denies any wrongdoing, and no court or other entity has made any judgment or other determination of any wrongdoing or that any law has been violated. The Defendant denies these and all other claims made in the Litigation.

In a class action, Representative Plaintiffs sue on behalf of all people who have similar claims. Together, all these people are called a Settlement Class or Settlement Class Members. One court resolves the issues for all Settlement Class Members, except for those Settlement Class Members who timely exclude themselves (opt out) from the Settlement Class.

The Representative Plaintiffs in this case are Christine Thomsen, Donna Miller, Shelbi Farrington, Dianna Kometh, Sally Labree, Harry Peterson, Patrick Burnham, David Teverbaugh, Richard Journagin, Gale Marie Jackson, Edward Cable, Carole Dangelo, Sophia Marks, Albert Shearer, and Rebecca Younk.

Plaintiffs and the Defendant do not agree about the claims made in this Litigation. The Litigation has not gone to trial, and the Court has not decided in favor of the Plaintiffs or the Defendant. Instead, Plaintiffs and the Defendant have agreed to settle the Litigation. Plaintiffs and the attorneys for the Settlement Class (“Class Counsel”) believe the Settlement is best for all Settlement Class Members because of the Settlement benefits and the risks and uncertainty associated with continued litigation and the nature of the defenses raised by the Defendant.

You are a Settlement Class Member if you were mailed a notice letter notifying you that your Private Information was potentially compromised in the Data Incident that occurred on or about August 1, 2021.

Yes. Excluded from the Settlement Class are:

1. Defendant and its respective officers and directors;
2. all Settlement Class Members who timely and validly request exclusion from the Settlement Class;
3. the Judge assigned to evaluate the fairness of the settlement; and
4. any other Person found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be guilty under criminal law of initiating, causing, abiding or abetting the criminal activity occurrence of the Data Incident or who pleads nolo contendere (a legal term that means “I do not wish to contend”) to any such charge.

If you are still not sure whether you are a Settlement Class Member, you may call the Claims Administrator’s toll-free number at 1-855-604-1803.

If you are a Settlement Class Member, you may be able to recover the following Claimed Benefits and Automatic Benefit as part of the Settlement:

If any funds remain in the Settlement Fund after payment of all Settlement benefits, claims administration fees, attorneys’ fees, costs, and service awards, the remaining funds will be used to extend Credit Monitoring to Settlement Class Members who have enrolled in Credit Monitoring as part of the Settlement. Any additional remaining funds will be used for a pro rata (a legal term that means equal share) increase of Lost-Time Claims, up to a maximum of $160 per Settlement Class Member who filed a Lost-Time Claim.

If the Net Settlement Fund is insufficient to cover the payment for the credit monitoring services claimed by Settlement Class Members or automatically awarded, the duration of the credit monitoring will be reduced to exhaust the Settlement Fund and no Settlement Funds will be distributed to Claimants for Approved Claims for Out-of-Pocket Loss Payments, Lost Time Payments, or California Statutory Payments.

If the combined amount of all Out-of-Pocket Loss Payments, Lost Time Payments, California Statutory Payments, payments for Credit Monitoring, and payments for Password Monitoring Services exceeds the total amount of the Settlement Fund, then the value of the Out-of-Pocket Loss Payments to be paid to each Settlement Class Member with a Valid Claim will be reduced on a pro rata basis (equal share). The combined value of all payments for Out-of-Pocket Loss, Lost Time, California Statutory awards, Credit Monitoring, and Password Monitoring Services will not exceed the Settlement Fund (after payment of all Settlement Administration.

Settlement Class Members seeking reimbursement for Out-of-Pocket Expense Claims, Lost-Time Claims, payment for California Claims, and/or Password Managing Services must complete and submit a Claim Form to the Claims Administrator by March 20, 2023.

The March 20, 2023 claim filing deadline has passed. We are no long accepting claims via online or email submissions.

Unless you exclude yourself (opt out), you are choosing to remain in the Settlement Class. If the Settlement is approved and becomes final, all Court orders will apply to you and legally bind you. You will not be able to sue, continue to sue, or be part of any other lawsuit against the Defendant and Released Persons about the legal issues in this Litigation that are released by this Settlement. The specific rights you are giving up are called “Released Claims”.

The Settlement Agreement in Sections 1.23, 1.25 and 6 describes the Release, Released Claims, and Released Parties in necessary legal terminology, so please read this section carefully. The Settlement Agreement is available here or in the public Court records on file in this lawsuit. For questions regarding the Releases or Released Claims and what the language in the Settlement Agreement means, you can also contact one of the lawyers listed in FAQ 20 for free, or you can talk to your own lawyer at your own expense.

The March 20, 2023 claim filing deadline has passed. We are no long accepting claims via online or email submissions.

If you change your mailing address or email address after you submit a Claim Form, it is your responsibility to inform the Claims Administrator of your updated information. You may notify the Claims Administrator of any changes by calling 1-855-604-1803 or by writing to:

Morley Claims Administrator
P.O. Box 6340
Portland, OR 97228-6340

Settlement benefits have been awarded on August 10, 2023.

Yes, the Court has appointed Bryan L. Bleichner of Chestnut Cambronne PA as Class Counsel to represent you and the Settlement Class for the purposes of this Settlement. You may hire your own lawyer at your own cost and expense if you want someone other than Class Counsel to represent you in this Litigation.

Class Counsel will file a motion asking the Court to award attorneys’ fees and costs not to exceed 33% of the Settlement Fund, or approximately $1,419,000. They will also ask the Court to approve service awards for up to $1,500 to each of the 15 Representative Plaintiffs for participating in this Litigation and for their efforts in achieving the Settlement. If awarded by the Court, attorneys’ fees and costs and the service awards will be paid out of the Settlement Fund. The Court may award less than these amounts.

Class Counsel’s application for attorneys’ fees, costs, and service awards will be made available on the Current Status section of the Home page before the deadline for you to comment or object to the Settlement.

The February 7, 2023 opt out deadline has passed.

No. If you opt out, you are telling the Court you do not want to be part of the Settlement. You can only get Settlement benefits if you stay in the Settlement.

No. Unless you opt out, you give up any right to sue the Defendant and Released Persons and their Related Entities for the claims this Settlement resolves and Releases relating to the Data Incident. You must opt out of this Litigation to start or continue with your own lawsuit or be part of any other lawsuit against the Defendant, the Related Entities, or any of the Released Persons. If you have a pending lawsuit, speak to your lawyer in that case immediately.

The February 7, 2023 objection deadline has passed.

Objecting is simply telling the Court you do not like something about the Settlement or requested attorneys’ fees and costs. You can object only if you stay in the Settlement Class (meaning you do not opt out of the Settlement). Opting out of the Settlement is telling the Court you do not want to be part of the Settlement Class or the Settlement. If you opt out, you cannot object to the Settlement.

The Court will hold a Final Fairness Hearing on April 19, 2023, at 12:00 p.m. before Judge Thomas L. Ludington and Magistrate Patricia T. Morris, at United State District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, United States Post Office Bldg., 1000 Washington Ave., Room 214, Bay City, MI 48708.

At this hearing, the Court will consider whether the Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate and decide whether to approve the Settlement, Class Counsels’ application for attorneys’ fees, costs and expenses, and the service awards to the Plaintiff. If there are objections, the Court will consider them. The Court will also listen to people who have asked to speak at the hearing.

No. Class Counsel will answer any questions the Court may have. However, you are welcome to attend at your own expense. If you send an objection, you do not have to come to Court to speak about it. As long as you file or mail your written objection on time, the Court will consider it.

Yes, as long as you do not exclude yourself (opt out), you can (but do not have to) participate and speak for yourself in this Litigation and Settlement. This is called making an appearance. You also can have your own lawyer speak for you, but you will have to pay for the lawyer yourself.

If you want to appear, or if you want your own lawyer instead of Class Counsel to speak for you at the hearing, you must follow all of the procedures for objecting to the Settlement listed in FAQ 20 above—and specifically include a statement whether you and your counsel will appear at the Final Fairness Hearing.

If you are a Settlement Class Member and you do nothing, you will not receive any Settlement benefits. You will give up rights explained in FAQ 17, including your right to start a lawsuit, continue with a lawsuit, or be part of any other lawsuit against the Defendant, the Related Entities, or any of the Released Parties about the legal issues in this Litigation that are released by the Settlement Agreement relating to the Data Incident.

If you received an email from noreply@epiqpay.com, it is because you were determined to be eligible for a payment in a class action settlement. By default, individuals eligible for payments will receive a prepayment notification email a few days before they receive an email containing a link to claim their payment. This is normal. If you claim a payment, you will also receive one or more follow up emails from our payment partner, Tremendous, confirming where in the process your payment is. If you do not immediately claim your payment, you may also receive one or more reminder emails.

If you have any questions about the EpiqPay email you received, please call our Toll-Free line at 1-855-604-1803.

EpiqPay is the official digital payment platform for Epiq Class Action and Claims Solutions. EpiqPay offers individuals who are eligible to receive payments in mass actions an easy, convenient, fast, and secure way to claim their payments. General information about EpiqPay is available at https://www.epiqglobal.com/en-us/technologies/epiq-pay.

Claiming your EpiqPay payment is simple and easy. All EpiqPay payment and reminder emails contain a 'Claim Payment' link. As long as you click the 'Claim Payment' link before the payment expiry date listed in your email, the link will take you to a payment dashboard where you can choose your preferred method of payment. Then click your preferred payment method. Depending on the method of payment you choose, you may be asked to confirm your selection or provide one or two pieces of information so your payment can be processed. After that, you will receive a small number of interim notifications from our payment partner rewards@tremendous.com letting you know your payment is 'in process', and eventually you will receive a link to your payment card, if you chose that as your option. Contact information for our payment partner is available on these notifications, in case you experience any issues using your card.

Emails regarding digital payments for this matter commenced on August 8, 2023, and digital payments will be available to claim through November 8, 2023. During that window, Epiq digital payment emails were from noreply@Epiqpay.com, so please review your inbox for messages from that email address. Due to variability in individual recipient email account SPAM and junk security settings, users are encouraged to review their junk and SPAM folders in case the digital payment emails went to those locations.

No. Digital payments are processed quickly, but once a user selects their preferred payment option, it typically takes 2-5 business days for the value of the award to reach end user cards or accounts. Upon making your selection, you will start to receive a series of emails from EpiqPay and our digital payment partners, which will keep you apprised of the progress of your payment.