OK Foods Data Breach Class Action Transferred to Arkansas Court

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A proposed class action filed over the April 2020 data breach that compromised OK Foods employees’ personal information has been transferred from Oklahoma to Arkansas federal court.

The lawsuit, initially filed in June 2021, alleges OK Foods, a subsidiary of Bachoco USA, failed to safeguard employees’ sensitive information from a cyberattack that reportedly exposed the workers’ names and Social Security numbers to unauthorized parties. Per the case, OK Foods, a fully integrated chicken producer, employs more than 3,500 people and has thousands of former employees.

The complaints relays that an unauthorized third party gained access to an OK Foods employee’s email address that contained unencrypted worker data between April 22 and 30, 2020. The suit says OK Foods was obligated to implement reasonable data security protocols and practices yet failed to follow Federal Trade Commission guidelines for protecting employee information. 

OK Foods allegedly waited almost a full year to notify workers whose information was compromised. According to the case, OK Foods’ alleged failure to protect employee data from unauthorized access and timely notify them of the breach has exposed the workers to a substantial risk of future harm, including identity theft and fraud.

“The ramifications of Defendant’s failure to keep current and former employees’ [personally identifiable information] secure are long lasting and severe,” the complaint attests. “Once [personally identifiable information] is stolen, fraudulent use of that information and damage to victims may continue for years.”

The lawsuit looks to represent current and former U.S. employees of OK Foods, or any affiliate, parent or subsidiary, who had their personally identifiable information compromised as a result of the data breach that occurred between April 22 and 30, 2020.

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