CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Chesapeake-based Dollar Tree is facing a class action lawsuit after a former employee claims the company failed to notify nearly two million people about a data breach.
According to the lawsuit, many employees are just now finding out about the breach that stole their confidential information via letters in the mail, despite it being discovered in August.
The 50+ page lawsuit was filed by a Richmond man who used to work for the store, Kenneth Stanley. On behalf of all employees affected, he accused company executives of not only knowing about the breach, but purposefully failing to notify employees.
The lawsuit claims hackers got access to confidential information like names, dates of birth, and social security numbers.
The lawsuit claims a data technology company called Zeroed-In handles this information for Dollar Tree. However, on August 8, the company discovered suspicious activity and later found almost two million people who worked for the company at some point had their personal information exposed.
Stanley said he did not receive any notice of the breach until November 27. He said the letter he got in the mail never mentioned how the breach happened, how it was fixed, or how many groups of people now have his personal information.
In response to the lawsuit, Dollar Tree gave 13News Now the following statement:
"Zeroed-In is a vendor that we and other companies use. They informed us that they identified a security incident, and they provided notice of the incident to current and former employees."
The lawsuit states that Dollar Tree can hold onto information from employees for years as part of their data, even after the employee leaves the company.
Stanley said spam calls and texts skyrocketed after the breach, and that Dollar Tree executives "willfully, recklessly and negligently disregarded the rights of class members."
The lawsuit did not say specifically how much Stanley is suing for, but it could be "millions" of dollars. Attorneys are suing for three counts, including charges of negligence, breach of implied contract, and unjust enrichment.
It's also unclear how many people here in Hampton Roads were impacted. All Dollar Tree employees must submit this personal information as part of their employment with the company.