A class-action lawsuit has been filed against a global consulting firm that recently reported that some people who have applied for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance may have had their personal data exposed.

Cleveland Attorney Marc Dann filed the civil lawsuit in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court against Deloitte Consulting, which is under contract with the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services to develop the system to administer the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program.

ODJFS reported a recent incident that allowed PUA applicants to view other applicants' names, social security numbers, and street addresses.

Although ODFS says only two dozen people impacted and the issue was fixed within an hour, the lawsuit alleges that “tens of thousands” of applicants could be part of the class action since it has been reported that as many as 161,000 Ohioans had applied for the assistance.

A post on the DannLaw Facebook page warns PUA applicants that their personal data may be at risk, and invites them to contact the law firm.

“We are outraged that this private company has put so many people already impacted by the COVID-19 crisis at risk so we are taking immediate action to hold Deloitte Consulting accountable for allowing this serious data breach to occur,” the Facebook post states.

 
User: DannLaw To: link

 

ODJFS said there is no evidence of any widespread data compromise. However, Deloitte is offering credit monitoring to all PUA claimants for 12 months.

Deloitte's full statement can be read below.

“We are deeply committed to protecting the personal information of our clients and the people they serve. The system was not breached. A unique circumstance enabled about two dozen Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claimants to inadvertently access a restricted page when logged into the state’s PUA website. Within an hour of learning of this issue, we identified the cause and stopped the unauthorized access to prevent additional occurrences. Out of an abundance of caution, we are offering 12 months of free credit monitoring to those PUA claimants potentially impacted.”

The civil complaint against Deloitte may be seen below: