A federal class action lawsuit has been filed against Pennsylvania healthcare company Geisinger and its third-party vendor, Nuance Communications.
The lawsuit has been filed in response to an alleged data breach that was announced last week.
Geisinger officials say a former Nuance employee reportedly accessed personal information of more than one million patients.
Now, those patients, including a Centre County resident, are suing Geisinger and Nuance for “failing to safeguard and secure” their information.
According to the initial announcement, the employee had already been fired prior to Geisinger learning of the data breach last November.
Officials say law enforcement also asked to Nuance to delay reporting the data breach in order to avoid “impeding their investigation.”
The plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial and damages in response to Geisinger and Nuance’s “negligence” and “violations” of the consumer protection law.
In a statement to the media, Geisinger says that it is reviewing the lawsuit and no further comment will be provided at this time.
