ATLANTA—The Home Depot has reached a contingent settlement with MasterCard International over the retail giant’s massive 2014 data breach.
And it appears that financial institutions suing Home Depot are not pleased with the amount.
The deal was disclosed Nov. 30 in court filings in federal court in Atlanta. Banks and CUs have reached out to see if their putative Class members are interested in participating in the settlement.
"This is a normal part of the process under the rules of our agreements with the card networks," Home Depot spokesman Stephen Holmes told the Dayton Business Journal.
Attorneys representing the FIs suing Home Depot over the data breach are unhappy about notices of the potential settlement that were sent to banks, calling them "misleading and coercive," the Business Journal Reported.
"Most tellingly, Home Depot began sending the communications hours before the Thanksgiving holiday, when class counsel and putative class members would be otherwise occupied, requiring putative class members to take action as soon as December 2, two days hence, without providing even the most basic information regarding settlement terms," the financial institutions' attorneys said in the court filing.
“We did not send any communications to banks about the settlement,” Holmes told the Journal.
According to the FIs’ attorneys’ interpretation of the court filing, class members who do not participate in the settlement will receive nothing, “foregoing money that under MasterCard's regulations they are entitled to receive without releasing their claims against Home Depot."
The financial institutions have asked the judge overseeing the data breach litigation for an immediate hearing and to order Home Depot to provide documents and information about the settlement and communications with banks, the Journal reported.
In November, Home Depot shared that the data breach has cost the retailer $152 million, after it received $100 million in insurance proceeds.