Court Grants Preliminary Approval of $9.5M Settlement in EP Global Data Breach Class Action
Data Breach at Entertainment Partners
On July 31, 2023, EP Global Production Solutions, or Entertainment Partners (“EP Global”), began notifying individuals that their information was involved in a data breach that exposed individuals’ personally identifying information (“PII”).
The company learned that it had experienced a cybersecurity attack on June 30, 2023, and immediately conducted an investigation. Through its investigation, EP Global discovered that an unauthorized party had gained access to the company’s information systems. Through further investigation, EP Global discovered that approximately 459,000 individuals’ PII was impacted.
Information including names, mailing addresses, Social Security numbers, and/or tax identification numbers were acquired by the unauthorized third party.
Preliminary Approval of the EP Global Settlement
On August 17, 2023, Shub & Johns LLC filed a class action lawsuit against Entertainment Partners for the potential impact that the data breach could have or has already had on affected individuals.
Counsel for both parties engaged in lengthy discussions, and after months of arms-length negotiations the Parties agreed on a tentative settlement of the class action suit.
On August 10, 2024, Plaintiffs filed a motion for preliminary approval of a class action settlement, with a $9.5M settlement fund. On August 23, 2024, Attorney Jonathan Shub and Benjamin F. Johns traveled to Los Angeles, CA to attend the Court’s hearing concerning Plaintiff’s motion for settlement. On September 10, 2024, Honorable Judge Lawrence Riff issued an order granting Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Approval of the class action settlement, and appointing Shub & Johns LLC as Co-Lead Class Counsel. Individuals impacted by the breach will be notified and have the chance to submit a claim until January 13, 2025 for participation in the class action settlement. The Court has scheduled a final approval hearing for December 5, 2025. Additional details regarding the Proposed Settlement are still to come.
The case is captioned In re: Entertainment Partners Data Breach Litig, Case No: 23STCV19711 (Sup. Ct. Cal.). You can read the Preliminary Approval Order here.
