Court Notification Process in Schnucks Data Breach Case Underway

A notification program is underway, as approved by the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis, to alert customers of Schnuck Markets Inc. that a settlement has been reached in a class action regarding a security breach that occurred between Dec. 9, 2012, and March 30, 2013.

On March 30, 2013, Schnucks confirmed its computer systems had been compromised by an individual or group of individuals who had planted a malicious computer code on its systems. The incident involved the insertion of malicious computer code that targeted data in the magnetic stripe of credit and debit cards swiped at 79 Schnucks stores.

The lawsuit claims that Schnucks was responsible for the data breach because the St. Louis-based supermarket chain didn't take appropriate care to protect its payment card systems from hacking. Schnucks denies all of the claims and says it did nothing wrong. The case is known as McGann, et al. v. Schnuck Markets, Inc., Case No. 1322-CC00800, Division 2.

The settlement class includes all individuals who used a credit or debit card at a Schnucks store between Dec. 9, 2012 and March 30, 2013.

The settlement provides three types of payments to people who submit valid claims:

1. Reimbursement of up to $200 for out-of-pocket expenses and documented lost time that resulted from the security Incident. The payment type provides reimbursement related to 14 categories of out-of-pocket expenses and lost time, including unreimbursed bank fees, card reissuance fees, overdraft fees, postage and credit reports.
2. $10 for each credit or debit card that had fraudulent charges as a result of the security incident, even though those charges were reversed or credited back to the cardholder’s account.
3. Reimbursement of up to $10,000 for extraordinary unreimbursed monetary losses, which were more likely than not caused by the incident.

Depending on the number of valid claims, some payments may be reduced.

Notices will be emailed or mailed to known potential class members, and notices are scheduled to appear via local newspapers and radio programming within the affected Schnuck market areas in advance of a hearing on Jan. 13, 2015, when the court will consider whether to grant final approval of the settlement.

Those affected by the settlement can submit a claim requesting benefits or they can ask to be excluded from, or object to, the settlement and its terms. The deadline for exclusions and objections is Dec. 9, 2014.  The deadline to submit a claim form is Dec. 31, 2014.