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 Posted: Fri Jun 02, 2006 10:02 pm Post subject: Hackett Files Lawsuit On Behalf Of 26.5 Million Vets |
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CINCINNATI (AP) -- A Cincinnati attorney has filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of 26.5 million veterans whose personal information was on a stolen computer disk.
The suit asks the Department of Veterans Affairs to compensate the veterans and pay for credit monitoring.
Paul Hackett filed the suit yesterday in US District Court in nearby Covington, Kentucky.
Hackett is a Marine reservist who served in Iraq and ran unsuccessfully for Congress last year.
The suit asks the VA to pay damages of at least one-thousand dollars per veteran.
VA officials say the disk stolen from a data analyst's home in early May included Social Security numbers and birth dates, and in many cases phone numbers and addresses.
http://www.wcpo.com/news/2006/local/05/31/vets_idtheft.html |
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GenrXr
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
Joined: 05 Aug 2004
Posts: 1720
Location: Houston
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| Posted: Sat Jun 03, 2006 5:43 am Post subject: |
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pfft, cannot stand lawyers
could care less of their ideological perspective, because I have yet to meet one who cares for anything other then themself
they are cockroaches
My family has a few good lawyers and they would not be employed by us if they did not realize going in they are cockroaches.
To some people this might not seem real, yet it is what it is.
They are bugs and believe it or not the good ones realize they are garbage handlers. They pretend to be something else by placing a lot of books and a hotty at the front desk, yet to my family they are trash haulers and always will be.
_________________
"An activist is the person who cleans up the water, not the one claiming its dirty."
"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to stand by and do nothing." Edmund Burke (1729-1797), Founder of Conservative Philosophy |
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LewWaters
Admin
Joined: 18 May 2004
Posts: 4042
Location: Washington State
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| Posted: Sat Jun 03, 2006 6:33 am Post subject: |
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On the surface, this sounds very pro-veteran. Looking closer, it appears to be grandstanding. If the VA compensates everyone who's information was on that disk, who pays for it? We do in increased taxes. And, compensate for what? Has anyone actually lost anything yet?
Hate to tell them but free credit reports are already available through the 3 major credit bureaus. We can also contact them and request no credit be approved unless we are personally contacted, free!
It appears Hackett, even though a Veteran himself, is trying to make a name for himself, possibly for another political bid. |
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Anker-Klanker
Admiral
Joined: 04 Sep 2004
Posts: 1033
Location: Richardson, TX
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| Posted: Sat Jun 03, 2006 4:38 pm Post subject: |
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| Hackett is not only grand-standing, but he gets a substantial cut of the settlement - which would be huge! Amd this is what is technically known as a form of "ambulance chasing" in my mind. IMHO, I see nothing commendable about it. |
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Anker-Klanker
Admiral
Joined: 04 Sep 2004
Posts: 1033
Location: Richardson, TX
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| Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2006 5:07 pm Post subject: |
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This just appeared on Drudge this morning. Looks like someone else has initiated a lawsuit on the same issue...
| Quote: | Veterans Groups Sues Over Data Theft
Jun 06 10:48 AM US/Eastern
Email this story
By HOPE YEN
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON
A coalition of veterans' groups charged in a lawsuit Tuesday that their privacy rights were violated after thieves stole personal data on 26.5 million military personnel from a Veterans Affairs employee.
The class-action lawsuit against the federal government, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, is the second suit since the VA disclosed the May 3 burglary two weeks ago.
It demands that the VA fully disclose which military personnel are affected by the data theft and seeks $1,000 in damages to each person _ up to $26.5 billion total. The veterans are also asking for a court order barring VA employees from using sensitive data until independent experts determine proper safeguards.
"VA arrogantly compounded its disregard for veterans' privacy rights by recklessly failing to make even the most rudimentary effort to safeguard this trove of the personally identifiable information from unauthorized disclosure," the complaint states.
The VA said Tuesday it is in discussions with credit-monitoring services to determine "how veterans and others potentially affected can best be served" in the aftermath of the theft, according to spokesman Matt Burns. He said the VA has received no reports of stolen data being used for fraudulent purposes.
Burns said the VA had no specific comment on the lawsuit because it does not comment on pending litigation.
Veterans groups have criticized the VA for a three-week delay in publicizing the May 3 burglary at a VA data analyst's Aspen Hill, Md., home. The VA initially disclosed the burglary May 22, saying it involved the names, birthdates and Social Security numbers _ and in some cases, disability codes _ of veterans discharged since 1975.
Since then, it also has acknowledged after an internal investigation that the data could also include phone numbers and addresses of those veterans, as well as the personal information for up to 50,000 active Navy and National Guard personnel.
In their lawsuit, the veterans groups say VA Secretary Jim Nicholson and other VA officials were at fault for the theft, which occurred even though the agency's inspector general warned every year since 2001 that access controls were weak.
The suit also said the VA acted irresponsibly by failing to publicize the burglary after the data analyst promptly told his supervisors on May 3. During congressional hearings last month, VA Inspector General George Opfer said his office didn't learn of the crime until May 10 _ and only through office gossip.
The veterans cite in part violations of a 1974 federal privacy law, which generally requires agencies to have protections to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of personal information. The VA has said the data analyst violated its established procedures by taking the data home without permission.
Nicholson has said he was angry that employees did not notify him of the burglary until May 16. Since then, the VA has fired the data analyst, and his boss, VA deputy assistant secretary Michael McLendon, has stepped down.
There have been no reports that the stolen data have been used for identity theft in what has become one of the nation's largest security breaches.
The five veterans groups involved in the lawsuit are Citizen Soldier in New York; National Gulf War Resource Center in Kansas City; Radiated Veterans of America in Carson City, Nev.; Veterans for Peace in St. Louis; and Vietnam Veterans of America in Silver Spring, Md.
Separately, a Democratic activist also has sued the VA in federal court in Cincinnati |
Is Hackett also behind this one? He's not directly mentioned (though the "Democratic activist" in the last line is him, and the earlier suit mentioned in this thread), but notice that the requested settlement amounts are the same.
What about the five veteran groups named? Are they legit (have to ask that after seeing Veterans for Peace in the list)? |
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