CDK Global Class Action on Behalf of Car Dealerships
Shub & Johns LLC has filed a class action lawsuit against CDK Global after a data breach and subsequent ransomware attack caused it dealer management system to be unavailable for several weeks. This shutdown caused CDK’s primary customers – auto dealerships – to rely on manual methods of its business practices in order to stay afloat.
The CDK Global Data Breach
On June 19, 2024, CDK Global, an automotive management software company whose software is utilized by many automotive dealerships and vehicle repair shops across the country, shut down its systems after a data breach required the company to investigate the incident.
CDK Global experienced a data breach that occurred on or around June 18, 2024 as a result of a targeted cyberattack that impacted the private information of many consumers. The company confirmed the breach on June 19 and subsequently shut down its systems in order to conduct an investigation. By shutting down its systems however, CDK Global resigned auto dealerships and repair shops to conduct business the old-fashioned way – with pen and paper.
CDK Shut Down Impact on Auto Dealers
With the CDK Global software shut down lasting weeks, automotive dealerships were required to manually keep records, make automotive sales, and conduct other everyday business practices by hand. This severely impacted the productivity and incoming revenue for potentially hundreds of dealerships that relied on CDK’s software to conduct its business activities.
On July 12, 2024, Shub & Johns filed a class action lawsuit against CDK Global on behalf of other dealerships impacted by the data breach and software outage. Kinley Automotive Group, the Shub & Johns client based out of Pennsylvania that is leading the suit, indicated that it lost over $600K in expected revenue as a result of the outage, and claims that CDK has done nothing to help dealerships.
Shub & Johns partner, Benjamin F. Johns, spoke to the Wall Street Journal on the goals of the class action suit, indicating that the lawsuit aims to recoup damages caused by the cyberattack.
“It’s not surprising that when this unexpectedly went down in the middle of the summer, it completely disrupted every facet of the business...”
You can view the Wall Street Journal article featuring Benjamin Johns here. The class action lawsuit is captioned George G. Manderbach, Inc. et al v. CDK Global, LLC, Case No. 1:24-cv-5924, currently pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Do you own or operate an automotive dealership that has been impacted by the CDK Global data breach? Let us know! Fill out the attached form and join the investigation today!
