Summary
The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania preliminarily approved a class action settlement arising from a data breach allegedly affecting personally identifiable information held by Ward Transport & Logistics Corp. The Court provisionally certified a settlement class under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23, approved the proposed notice plan, appointed class counsel, and adopted opt-out and objection procedures. The Court also set a fairness hearing and related deadlines.
Court
United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Jurisdiction
United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Decision date
December 12, 2025
Docket number
2:24-CV-01565-CCW
Disposition
other
Questions Presented
- Whether the proposed class action settlement should receive preliminary approval under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(e).
- Whether the proposed settlement class should be provisionally certified under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(a) and Rule 23(b)(3).
- Whether the proposed notice plan satisfies the notice requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(c)(2)(B) and Rule 23(e)(1)(B).
- Whether the proposed service award and potential attorney-fee award presented an obvious deficiency precluding preliminary approval.
Holdings
- The proposed settlement was preliminarily approved because the negotiations occurred at arm's length, the parties had conducted sufficient informal discovery, counsel had relevant experience, no obvious deficiencies appeared, and the settlement fell within the range of possible approval under Rule 23(e).
- The court provisionally certified, for settlement purposes only, a Rule 23(b)(3) class consisting of all individuals residing in the United States whose personally identifiable information was affected by the data-breach incident.
- The proposed notice plan was reasonable and complied with Rule 23, and notice was ordered to be given consistently with the settlement agreement.
Court Document
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