The Massachusetts Bankers Association said it will file a class action lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Boston against TJX Cos. Inc. in response to the company’s credit and debit card data breach in which more than 45 million cards may have been compromised.
The suit will seek to recover damages in excess of $10 million, the association said, in a statement.
TJX did not return calls for comment at deadline.
The Connecticut Bankers Association, the Maine Association of Community Banks and individual banks, are joining the MBA as co-plaintiffs.
The three bankers associations represent nearly 300 banks. Thus far, the named plaintiffs in the class action suit include Saugusbank, Saugus, MA; Eagle Bank, Everett,MA, and Collinsville Savings Society, Collinsville, CT. More bankers associations and many more individual banks are expected to join the list from across the country as the case progresses, said the MBA.
As a result of the TJX data breach here have been dramatic costs to financial institutions in the effort to protect cardholders, said the MBA, which said it is filing this lawsuit to protect customer privacy and data security for customer accounts.
TJX said computer hackers stole credit card from at least 45.7 million credit and debit cards over an 18-month period beginning in Dec. 2002 (Direct Newsline, March 30).
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the parent firm of T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods and A.J. Wright stores admitted it discovered this apparent breach last Dec. 18 and expected multiple lawsuits in the U.S. and Canada as it continues to investigate the matter.
Also stolen during the period were drivers’ license numbers and other personal data on 455 million people. This personal information was collected by TJX from customers who returned merchandise without a receipt.
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