A $3.9 million settlement has been reached in the class action lawsuit Hale, et al. v. Arcare, Inc. over a data incident involving private information that Arcare determined had been subject to unauthorized access from January 18 to February 24, 2022.
The case is pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. The plaintiffs filed claims alleging breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, unjust enrichment, breach of implied contract, injunction relief, and declaratory judgment. ArCare denied wrongdoing and disagreed with the allegations in the lawsuit. The court did not decide in favor of either the plaintiffs or ArCare before the parties settled.
Under the settlement, ArCare agreed to pay $3,900,000 to resolve the action.
The settlement fund will be used to pay benefits to Settlement Class Members with valid claims, settlement management costs, and attorneys’ fees, expenses, and service awards permitted by the court.
The settlement will pay people living in the United States who got notice that their private data may have been affected by the ArCare data breach. The settlement website states that roughly 345,000 people were notified that certain information may have been affected in the incident.
The HIPAA-covered data analyzed in the settlement materials included driver’s license numbers, Social Security numbers, state ID numbers, birth dates, financial account details, medical treatment data, prescription details, medical diagnosis or medical condition details, and medical insurance details.
Settlement Claims and Deadlines
Settlement Class Members may choose between two cash payment options.
One option allows eligible class members to seek reimbursement for documented and unreimbursed losses related to the data incident, with payments of up to $5,000 for each Settlement Class Member. Supporting documentation is required for documented loss claims.
The second option provides an alternate cash payment projected at about $100 for each class member. The actual payment may be adjusted on a pro rata basis depending on the amount of valid claims and the available settlement funds.
Settlement Class Members may also claim medical data monitoring for one year in addition to either cash payment option.
The settlement materials identify the monitoring service as CyEx’s Medical Shield Complete. The service includes credit monitoring with one bureau and additional monitoring of specified healthcare and medical-related information.
Eligible Settlement Class Members must submit a claim form by January 7, 2027 to receive settlement benefits. Settlement Class Members who want to exclude themselves from the settlement must submit their exclusion requests by December 8, 2026. Objections to the settlement are also due by December 8, 2026.
The settlement website states that the Final Approval Hearing is scheduled for January 28, 2027 at the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. Settlement benefits will be distributed after the settlement receives approval and becomes final.
The plaintiffs stated that ArCare was responsible for the data breach and that the incident ought to have been averted. ArCare maintained that it had not engaged in wrongdoing and disputed the claims. The parties participated in mediation and reached an agreement on settlement terms. The settlement resolves the action without a court decision determining that either side prevailed on the underlying allegations.