Phi Finney McDonald and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan jointly act for the Representative Plaintiffs and Group Members in a class action against Medibank Private Ltd (Medibank) commenced in the Supreme Court of Victoria on behalf of investors who acquired shares in Medibank between 1 July 2019 and 25 October 2022 (inclusive) (Claim Period).
Background
On 13 October 2022, Medibank issued an ASX release disclosing a “cyber incident” (the Breach).
Subsequent releases over October and November disclosed that the personal data of approximately 9.7 million current and former customers and the health claims data of approximately 480,000 customers was taken in the Breach. The hackers have since made personal and health claims data available on the dark web.
From market close on 19 October 2022 when Medibank went into a trading halt, to 26 October 2022 when the suspension was lifted, Medibank’s share price dropped more than 18% after details of the Breach were released.
Allegations
The class action alleges that Medibank breached its continuous disclosure obligations and engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct in relation to the adequacy of its privacy and information security protections. It is separate to the privacy litigation brought by Medibank customers whose personal and health information was accessed in the data breach.
The class action alleges that investors who acquired Medibank shares during the Claim Period are entitled to compensation for loss and damage as they paid more for those shares than they would have paid as a consequence of Medibank’s conduct. The class action also alleges that some group members would not have purchased Medibank shares if Medibank had complied with its obligations.
Consolidation
The representative plaintiffs were previously the representative plaintiffs in two separate but overlapping class actions against Medibank.
On 6 September 2023, the Court ordered the consolidation of the two competing class actions. The consolidating proceeding is Robert Laird Kilah and Brendan Francis Sinnamon v Medibank Private Limited, S ECI 2023 01227.
Class Action Information and Registration
Current and former investors who acquired an interest in Medibank shares between 1 July 2019 and 25 October 2022 inclusive are invited to register their participation in the class action or request further information by emailing medibankshareholders@phifinneymcdonald.com.