Yahoo agrees to $80 million settlement of securities class action arising out of data breach

The parties to a class action against Yahoo arising out of a data breach involving the personal information of 1.5 billion users announced a settlement of the claims of investors that the risks were not disclosed.

The investors alleged that the company intentionally misled them about its cybersecurity practices in the wake of massive hacks.

If approved, the stipulated settlement would create a cash fund amounting to about 12 cents a share. Despite having a deal pending before the court, Yahoo on Friday also filed a motion to dismiss the investors’ second amended complaint after lead plaintiff Ben Maher had apparently refused the settlement.

Investors alleged that testimony from prior employees and the company’s own internal investigation revealed that the CEO and other senior executives knew that state-sponsored hackers had accessed the accounts as early as 2014 but still continued to file corporate notices failing to disclose it.

The case is In re: Yahoo Inc. Securities Litigation, case number 5:17-cv-00373, in U.S. District Court for Northern California.

Steve Larson

An experienced trial lawyer who handles both hourly and contingent fee cases, Steve has expertise in class actions, environmental clean-up litigation, antitrust litigation, securities litigation, corporate disputes, intellectual property disputes, unfair competition claims, and disputes involving family wealth. Steve regularly represents individuals and businesses in federal and state court and has obtained class-wide recovery in multiple class actions. A veteran practitioner, Steve’s clients value his creative approach to resolving complex litigation matters.

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