By Isha Marathe

June 27 - (The Insurer) - Erie Insurance has been hit with two lawsuits and Aflac with a proposed class action from employees and customers who said that the companies failed to secure their information in June data breaches.

Erie Indemnity Company, which manages Erie Insurance, identified an information security event after facing system outages and disruptions, the company said in a June 7 8-K filing with the SEC.

Aflac identified a breach on its U.S. network that may have exposed customers' personal information on June 12 and believes it to have been carried out by a sophisticated cybercrime group called Scattered Spider, Reuters reported.

Erie and Aflac are two of at least three insurers that were targeted by cyberattacks and ransomware in June, Cyber Risk Insurer reported.

The three lawsuits filed last week against Erie and Aflac argue that the companies failed to keep customer and employee data secure during these breaches.

An Erie spokesperson told The Insurer that it "strongly dispute(s) the claims and information included in these filings and will vigorously defend (itself) against them".

An Aflac spokesperson told The Insurer that the company is unable to comment on ongoing litigation, but that it is offering any individual who contacts its dedicated call centre free credit monitoring, identity theft protection and Medical Shield for 24 months as a result of the breach.

ERIE LAWSUITS

On June 16, Amy Haas, an Erie Insurance policyholder and former employee based in Wisconsin, sued the company on behalf of herself and a proposed nationwide class.

She said that Erie requires individuals to provide sensitive private and personal information, including customer and employees’ full name, address, social security number, driver’s licence or state ID number, financial account and payment card information, in order to administer services and offer employment.

Upon collection, the information is stored within Erie's environment.

The data breach is likely to have exposed this data to bad actors, meaning customers and employees are "at risk that their data will be sold or listed on the dark web and, ultimately, illegally used in the future", the complaint said.

She is suing Erie on five counts, including negligence, unjust enrichment, breach of implied contract and breach of confidence.

In her prayer for relief, Haas is requesting a jury trial and proposing a class action.

In a similar complaint on June 15, Neil Plascencia, an Erie customer based in Illinois, said that as "a direct and proximate result of Erie’s inadequate data security, and its breach of its duty to handle PII with reasonable care", his and the proposed class's personally identifiable information has been accessed by hackers, potentially posted on the dark web, and exposed to "an untold number of unauthorized individuals".

Plascencia said Erie informed him and other potential class members that their PII was exposed in the data breach.

The complaint said that Erie was aware of the high value of the data it stores, and yet failed to adequately secure it.

Plascencia is suing Erie on five counts, including negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment and declaratory judgment.

The complaint said that the amount in controversy in this class exceeds $5 million, exclusive of interest and cost.

In a prayer for relief, Plascencia is asking for a jury trial for the proposed class, an order mandating Erie to pay at least three years of credit monitoring services for the plaintiffs and further compensation.

Counsel for Haas and Plascencia did not respond to requests for comment.

AFLAC LAWSUIT

On Sunday, Jessica Batiste filed a proposed class action in Columbus, Georgia, alleging that Aflac failed to protect her PII during the June 12 data breach.

The complaint said that the breach took place due to Aflac "intentionally, willfully, recklessly, and/or negligently failing to implement reasonable measures to safeguard the private information of its current and former customers, beneficiaries, employees, agents, and other individuals in its U.S. business, and by failing to take necessary steps to prevent unauthorized disclosure of that information".

As a direct result, Batiste and the proposed class are at a risk of identity theft, which could harm their credit and affect their livelihood, the complaint said.

The plaintiffs would not have provided their PII had they known that Aflac would make it "internet-accessible, not encrypt personal and sensitive data elements and not delete the private information it no longer had reason to maintain", the complaint said.

Batiste added that the threat of identity theft would cause plaintiffs, including herself, emotional distress.

She is suing Aflac on five counts, including negligence, breach of implied contract, unjust enrichment and breach of confidence.

In a prayer for relief for herself and the proposed class, Batiste is demanding a jury trial, to provide or extend credit monitoring services and similar services to protect against all types of identity theft, and further compensation.

Counsel for Batiste did not respond to a request for comment.