A class action lawsuit has been filed
against MGM Resorts after the company confirmed last week that a 2019 security
breach exposed the personal data of an unknown number of guests.
The suit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court of
Nevada on Feb. 21, alleges that MGM intentionally sought to keep the incident
under wraps.
“Seeking to avoid additional negative publicity on the heels
of the mass shooting that occurred eight months earlier, MGM avoided bringing
the matter to public light, hoping that the breach and its inadequate cyber
security practices would go unnoticed,” wrote lawyers from Tanasi Law Offices,
Morgan & Morgan Complex Litigation Group and the Law Office of Paul C.
Whalen.
The lawsuit claims more than 10 million guests were impacted
by the breach and seeks damages exceeding $5 million.
In a statement, MGM said it became aware of the security
breach last summer and notified guests who were potentially impacted, in
accordance with state laws. Additionally, the company said the vast majority of
information exposed was “phone book data,” or information like first and/or
last name, phone number and other data that can generally be found in a phone
book or via Google search.
MGM has declined to confirm the exact number of guests
affected by the incident, claiming the exposed data was “messy and included
many duplicates.”