Canon U.S.A. Inc. (Canon) was hit with a class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York this week for the ransomware attack that exposed current and former employees’ personal information in November 2020. The plaintiffs reside in Ohio, New York, Florida and Illinois, and allege that Canon was negligent in protecting employee data and violated state trade practice laws by failing to guard against such an attack. The plaintiffs further allege that Canon failed to notify the affected individuals in a timely manner.

The attack on Cannon occurred in August 2020 and affected current and former employees from 2005 to 2020, as well as their beneficiaries and dependents. The information affected included Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, financial account numbers, electronic signatures, and dates of birth. The plaintiffs are seeking certification of a nationwide class.