Heath, et al. v. Steel River Systems, LLC

The Court authorized this Notice to inform you about a proposed Settlement with Defendant. The case is called Heath et al. v. Steel River Systems, LLC., Case No. 2023-LA-000006. You have legal rights and options that you may act on before the Court decides whether to approve the proposed Settlement. This Notice explains the lawsuit, the Settlement, and your legal rights.

Plaintiffs claim that Defendant failed to implement and maintain reasonable security measures to adequately protect the personal information and/or protected health information in its possession and to prevent the Data Incident from occurring.

Defendant denies that it is liable for the claims made in the lawsuit and deny any allegations of wrongdoing.

A class action is a lawsuit in which one or more plaintiffs—in this case, Plaintiffs and Class Representatives Jay D. Heath, Beverly Stoll, Amber Bower, and Joel Courtney—sue on behalf of a group of people who have similar claims. Together, this group is called a “Class” and consists of “Class Members.” In a class action, the court resolves the issues for all class members, except those who exclude themselves from the class.

The Court has not decided whether the Plaintiffs or Defendant should win this case. Instead, both sides agreed to this Settlement. That way, they can avoid the uncertainty, risks, and expense of ongoing litigation, and Settlement Class Members will be eligible to get compensation now rather than years later—if ever. The Class Representatives and attorneys for the Settlement Class Members, called Class Counsel, agree the Settlement is in the best interests of the Settlement Class Members. The Settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing by the Defendant.

You are part of the Settlement as a Settlement Class Member if you received a notification letter from Defendant stating that your personal information and/or protected health information was or may have been compromised in the Data Incident.

Settlement Class Members will have been mailed notice of their eligibility. If you are still not sure whether you are included, you can contact the Settlement Administrator by calling 1-888-510-2130 or by emailing SRSDataBreachSettlement@cptgroup.com.

This Settlement Class does not include (i) Steel River and its officers and directors; (ii) all Settlement Class Members who timely and validly request exclusion from the Settlement Class; (iii) the Judge assigned to evaluate the fairness of this settlement; (iv) the attorneys representing the Settling Parties in the Litigation; and (v) any other Person found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be guilty under criminal law of initiating, causing, aiding, or abetting the criminal activity occurrence of the Data Incident or who pleads nolo contendere to any such charge.

Under the proposed Settlement, Defendant will pay (or cause to be paid) up to $200,000 in monetary benefits, as well as equitable relief in the form of data security enhancements. Separate and apart from the funds used to provide monetary and equitable relief, Defendant will also pay notice and administration costs, Court-approved attorneys’ fees and costs, Court-approved service awards for class representatives.

MONETARY RELIEF

• Reimbursement for Lost Time and Ordinary Out-of-Pocket Losses: If you spent time responding to the Data Incident, you may be eligible to receive compensation for Lost Time. If you incurred financial losses that are fairly traceable to the Data Incident, you may be eligible to receive reimbursement for out-of-pocket losses. Reimbursement for lost time and ordinary out-of-pocket losses are capped at $310 per claimant.
  
  
  1. Out-of-Pocket Losses: A claim for reimbursement may include, but are not limited to the following provided the expenses were incurred primarily as a result of the Data Incident: (i) unreimbursed bank fees; (ii) long distance telephone charges; (iii) cell minutes (if charged by minute), Internet usage charges (if charged by the minute or by the amount of data usage and incurred solely as a result of the Data Incident), and text messages (if charged by the message and incurred solely as a result of the Data Incident); (iv) postage; (v) gasoline for local travel; (vi) costs of credit report(s) purchased by Settlement Class Members between July 16, 2022 and the Claims Deadline (with reasonable documentation, proof of purchase, and an affirmative statement by Settlement Class Member that it was purchased primarily because of the Data Incident, including, if purchased prior to December 15, 2022, identification of a fraudulent charge caused by the Data Incident that prompted the purchase); and (vii) costs of credit monitoring purchased by Settlement Class Members between July 16, 2022 and the Claims Deadline (with reasonable documentation, proof of purchase, and an affirmative statement by Settlement Class Member that it was purchased primarily because of the Data Incident and not for other purposes, including, if purchased prior to December 15, 2022, identification of a fraudulent charge caused by the Data Incident that prompted the purchase).
  
  
  2. Lost Time: A claim for reimbursement may also include a claim for up to 3 hours of time spent in response to the Data Incidents, but only if at least one full hour was spent. Lost Time will be compensated at $25.00/hour and requires a brief description of the action taken in response to the Data Incident and the time associated with those actions.


• Reimbursement for Extraordinary Expenses: Settlement Class Members may also make a claim for up to $5,000 in extraordinary expense reimbursements. Extraordinary expenses must be documented and are compensable if: a) it is an actual, documented, and unreimbursed monetary loss; (b) was more likely than not caused by the Data Incident; (c) occurred during the time period from July 16, 2022, through and including the end of the Claims Deadline; (d) is not an amount already covered by one or more of the categories in Section IV 2.1 of the Settlement Agreement; and (e) the claimant made reasonable efforts to avoid or seek reimbursement for the loss, including but not limited to exhaustion of all available credit monitoring insurance and identity theft insurance.


• Equitable Relief: Defendant has also agreed to implement, continue, and maintain certain data security measures for a period of one year following final approval of the settlement.


• For complete details, please see the Settlement Agreement, whose terms control, here.

Settlement Class Members who want to submit a Claim must fill out and submit a Claim Form online or by mail to the Settlement Administrator. Claim Forms are available through the Settlement Website or by calling 1-888-510-2130.

All Claim Forms must be submitted no later than December 21, 2023.

The hearing to consider the fairness of the Settlement is scheduled for December 15, 2023. If the Court approves the Settlement, eligible Settlement Class Members whose claims were approved by the Settlement Administrator will be sent payment after all appeals and other reviews, if any, are completed. Please be patient.

Yes, the Court has appointed Mason LLP and Cole & Van Note as “Class Counsel” to represent you and all Settlement Class Members. You will not be charged for these lawyers. You can ask your own lawyer to appear in Court for you at your own expense if you want someone other than Class Counsel to represent you.

To date, Class Counsel has not received any payment for their services in conducting this litigation on behalf of the Class and have not been paid for their out-of-pocket expenses. Class Counsel will ask the Court for an award of attorneys’ fees and for the reimbursement of litigation costs and expenses which were incurred in connection with the Action not to exceed $123,750. Such sums as may be approved by the Court will be paid by Defendant separate and apart from the funds available for class monetary relief and equitable relief.

Class Counsel will also request a service award payment of $1,250.00 for each Plaintiff Representative to be paid from the Settlement Fund.

The Court will determine the proper amount of any attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses to award Class Counsel and the proper amount of any service awards to the Plaintiff Representatives.

Class Counsel will file their request for attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses and service awards for the Plaintiff Representatives with the Court, which will also be posted on the Settlement Website.

If you do not exclude yourself from the Settlement, you will not be able to sue Defendant about the Data Incident, and you will be bound by all decisions made by the Court in this case, the Settlement, and its included Release. This is true regardless of whether you submit a Claim Form. However, you may exclude yourself from the Settlement (see FAQ 14). If you exclude yourself from the Settlement, you will not be bound by any of the Released Claims, which are described in the Settlement Agreement here.

If you do nothing, you will receive no benefits under the Settlement. You will be in the Settlement Class, and if the Court approves the Settlement, you will also be bound by all orders and judgments of the Court, the Settlement, and its included Release. You will be deemed to have participated in the Settlement and will be subject to the provisions of FAQ 11 above. Unless you exclude yourself, you won’t be able to file a lawsuit or be part of any other lawsuit against Defendant for the claims or legal issues released in this Settlement.

If you exclude yourself from the Settlement, you will receive no benefits under the Settlement. However, you will not be in the Settlement Class and will not be legally bound by the Court’s judgments related to the Settlement Class and Defendant in this class action.

You can ask to be excluded from the Settlement. To do so, you must send a written statement to the Settlement Administrator stating that you want to be excluded from the Settlement in Heath et al. v. Steel River Systems, LLC., Case No. 2023-LA-000006. Your written notification must include: (1) the name of the proceeding; (2) your full name and current address; (3) your signature; and (4) the words “Request for Exclusion” or a comparable statement that you not wish to participate in the Settlement at the top of the communication. You must mail your exclusion request, postmarked no later than December 21, 2023, to the following address:

You cannot exclude yourself by phone or email. Any individual who wants to be excluded from the Settlement must submit his or her own exclusion request. No group opt-outs shall be permitted.

No. Unless you exclude yourself, you give up any right to sue Defendant for the claims or legal issues released in this Settlement, even if you do nothing.

No. If you exclude yourself, do not submit a Claim Form to ask for any benefits.

If you do not exclude yourself from the Settlement Class, you can object to the Settlement if you do not agree with any part of it. You can give reasons why you think the Court should deny approval by filing an objection. To object, you must file a written objection with the Clerk of Court stating that you object to the Settlement in Heath et al. v. Steel River Systems, LLC., Case No. 2023-LA-000006. Your objection must be filed no later than December 21, 2023.

The objection must include (i) the objector’s full name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address (if any); (ii) information identifying the objector as a Settlement Class Member, including proof that the objector is a member of the Settlement Class; (iii) a written statement of all grounds for the objection, accompanied by any legal support for the objection the objector believes applicable; (iv) the identity of all counsel representing the objector; (v) a statement whether the objector and/or his or her counsel will appear at the Final Fairness Hearing; (vi) the objector’s signature and the signature of the objector’s duly authorized attorney or other duly authorized representative (along with documentation setting forth such representation); and (vii) a list, by case name, court, and docket number, of all other cases in which the objector and/or the objector’s counsel has filed an objection to any proposed class action settlement within the last three (3) years.

You must file the objection with the Clerk of Court at the address listed below, and concurrently serve your objection on Class Counsel and Counsel for Steel River, postmarked no later than December 21, 2023. The addresses for Class Counsel and Counsel for Steel River are:

Objecting simply means telling the Court that you don’t like something about the Settlement. You can object only if you stay in the Settlement Class. Excluding yourself from the Settlement Class is telling the Court that you don’t want to be part of the Settlement Class. If you exclude yourself, you have no basis to object because the case no longer affects you.

The Court will hold the Final Approval Hearing on December 15, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. (Central Time) at the Courthouse located at 200 East Knox Street, Morrison, IL 61270 or Join Judge Heuerman Courtroom B Zoom Hearing via the court’s website https://www.whitesidecountyil.gov/252/Whiteside-County-Courts-Zoom-Information (meeting ID 854 4100 6493).

The purpose of the hearing is for the Court to determine whether the Settlement is fair, reasonable, adequate, and in the best interests of the Settlement Class. At the hearing, the Court will hear any objections and arguments concerning the fairness of the proposed Settlement, including those related to the amount requested by Class Counsel for attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses and the service awards to Class Representatives.

The location, date and time of the Final Approval Hearing are subject to change by Court order. Any changes will be posted here on the Settlement Website or through the Court’s publicly available docket. You should check the Settlement Website to confirm the date and time have not been changed.

No. Class Counsel will answer any questions the Court may have. But you are welcome to attend the hearing at your own expense. If you send an objection, you don’t have to come to Court to talk about it. If your written objection was filed or mailed on time and meets the other criteria described in the Settlement, the Court will consider it. However, you may appear on your behalf or pay a lawyer to attend on your behalf to assert your objection if you would like.

Yes. If you do not exclude yourself from the Settlement Class, you (or your attorney) may appear and speak at the Final Approval Hearing concerning any part of the proposed Settlement.

This Notice summarizes the proposed Settlement. More details are in the Settlement Agreement, which is available here on the Settlement Website or by writing to:

For more information call 1-888-510-2130, email SRSDataBreachSettlement@cptgroup.com, or write to: