Customer Service Co. StarTek Facing Class Action Over Employee Data Breach

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StarTek faces a proposed class action months after the sensitive personal information of thousands of current and former employees was allegedly stolen during a June 2021 data breach. 

The 37-page complaint alleges that the incident, which StarTek did not disclose until December 23, stemmed from the worldwide customer service solutions provider’s failure to implement adequate and reasonable cybersecurity safeguards. The private information accessed by the perpetrators includes, at minimum, current and former StarTek employees’ names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth, the lawsuit says. 

According to the suit, StarTek, which provides customer service to some of the largest companies in the world, maintained the compromised information in “a reckless manner,” in particular on a network vulnerable to cyberattacks, and would have come across the breach much sooner had its employees properly monitored the network that housed the data. The complaint argues that the potential for a cyberattack was known to the defendant, who was thus “on notice that failing to take steps necessary to secure the Private Information from those risks left that property in a dangerous condition.” 

The plaintiff, a former StarTek employee, claims to have received an increase in spam phone calls, emails and texts since the data breach, which the suit says appear to have come her way with the intent of obtaining personal information to commit identity theft. 

“Plaintiff believes her stolen Private Information is currently available for sale on the Dark Web because that is the modus operandi of cybercriminals,” the complaint reads. 

The lawsuit argues that by acquiring, collecting and storing a massive amount of personally identifiable information from employees, StarTek has a legal and equitable duty to protect that data from unauthorized disclosure. Per the suit, StarTek had the resources necessary to prevent the data breach yet “neglected to adequately invest” in proper security measures. 

According to the case, the ramifications of StarTek’s failure to protect current and former employees’ identifying information may be felt by data breach victims for years to come. The suit contends that StarTek’s offer of only one year of identity monitoring services to those affected by the breach is inadequate given the longevity of the risk of identity theft. 

The lawsuit looks to cover all persons whose private information was maintained on StarTek’s computer systems that were compromised in the June 2021 data breach, and who received notice of the incident. 

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