Data Breach Class Action Against P.F. Chang’s Revived

The potential of fraudulent charges or identity theft stemming from restaurant chain P.F. Chang’s data breach gives class action plaintiffs standing enough to sue, reversing a lower court ruling. Victims of the data breach “should not have to wait until hackers commit theft or credit-card fraud in order to give the class standing,” wrote Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Diane P. Wood for the three-judge appeals court panel. Joseph J. Siprut of Siprut P.C., who argued the case before the circuit court panel, said the ruling was a “hugely important addition” to cyber breach law. In the summer of 2014, P.F. Chang’s revealed that debit and credit-card information had been stolen from 33 of its restaurants.