Sharma v. Accutech Systems Corporation

The Court authorized the Notice because you have a right to know about the proposed Settlement in this class action lawsuit and about all of your options before the Court decides whether to give “final approval” to the Settlement. Click here for an explanation of the legal rights and options that you may exercise before the Court decides whether to approve the Settlement.

Judge Kimberly Dowling of the Delaware Circuit Court 2, Delaware County, Indiana, is overseeing this case. The case is known as Sharma v. Accutech Systems Corporation, Case No. 18C02-2210-CT-000135. The persons who sued are called the Plaintiffs. Accutech is called the Defendant.

The lawsuit claims that Accutech was responsible for the Data Incident that occurred and asserts claims such as breach of implied contract, negligence, invasion of privacy, and violation of the California, Colorado, and Indiana consumer protection statutes. The lawsuit seeks compensation for people who had out-of-pocket expenses, fraudulent charges, lost time spent dealing with fraudulent charges or card replacement issues, or unreimbursed extraordinary monetary losses as a result of the Data Incident.

Accutech denies all of the Plaintiffs’ claims and says it did not do anything wrong.

In a class action, one or more people called “Representative Plaintiffs” sue on behalf of all people who have similar claims. All of these people together are the “Class” or “Class Members.” In this case, the Representative Plaintiffs are Nivedita Sharma and Christopher Medvigy. One court resolves the issues for all Class Members, except for those who exclude themselves from the Class.

By agreeing to settle, both sides avoid the cost and risk of a trial, and people who submit valid claims will get compensation. The Representative Plaintiffs and their attorneys believe the Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate and, thus, best for the Class and its members. The Settlement does not mean that Accutech did anything wrong.

If you received a notice by postcard or email about the Settlement, you are probably a member of the Settlement Class. You are also included in the Settlement Class if you received notice from Accutech that your personal information may have been exposed to unauthorized third parties as a result of the Data Incident, and you had out-of-pocket expenses, fraudulent charges, lost time spent dealing with fraudulent charges or card replacement issues, or unreimbursed extraordinary monetary losses as a result of the Accutech Data Incident.

Specifically excluded from the Settlement Class are (i) Accutech and its officers and directors; (ii) all Settlement Class Members who timely and validly request exclusion from the Settlement Class; (iii) the Judge assigned to evaluate the fairness of this settlement; (iv) the attorneys representing the Parties in the Litigation; and (v) any other Person found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be guilty under criminal law of initiating, causing, aiding, or abetting the criminal activity occurrence of the Data Incident or who pleads nolo contendere (a no-contest plea, while not technically a guilty plea, has the same immediate effect as a guilty plea and is often offered as part of a plea bargain) to any such charge.

If you are not sure whether you are included in the Settlement, you may call 1-888-378-1698 with questions. You may also write with questions to P.O. Box 2030, Portland, OR 97208-2030. Please do not contact the Court with questions.

The Settlement provides for two years of complimentary identity protection services. To obtain the complimentary two-year membership of TransUnion “myTrueIdentity”, you must submit a claim and affirmatively request credit monitoring by indicating such request on the Claim Form. If your claim is approved, the Settlement Administrator will send a redeemable code to the email address provided on the Claim Form that can be used to enroll in this two-year membership.

The Settlement has provided payments to people who had submitted valid claims. There were two types of payments that were available: (1) Expense Reimbursement (FAQ 8) and (2) Extraordinary Expense Reimbursement (FAQ 9). You may have submitted a claim for either or both types of payments. You must have also provided proof of your Class membership in the form of either the unique identifier provided in the Notice you received by postcard or email or your full name and the name of the entity possessing your personal information to whom Accutech provided services. To claim each type of payment, you must have provided related documentation with the Claim Form.

As part of the Settlement, Accutech has also committed to establish and maintain security enhancements. The deadline to submit a claim for benefits has passed.

Class Members are eligible to receive reimbursement of up to $325 (in total) for the following categories of out-of-pocket expenses resulting from the Data Incident:

• unreimbursed bank fees;
• long-distance telephone charges;
• cell minutes (if charged by minute) and text messages (if charged by the message);
• internet usage charges (if charged by the minute or by the amount of data usage);
• postage; postage and photocopies;
• gasoline for local travel
• notary and other service process fees;
• court document retrieval fees;
• costs of credit report(s);
• costs of credit monitoring and identity theft protection; and
• reimbursement of up to three (3) hours of documented lost time (at $20 per hour) spent dealing with replacement card issues or in reversing fraudulent charges (only if at least one full hour was spent and if it can be documented with reasonable specificity).

The deadline to submit a claim for benefits has passed.

Class Members who had other extraordinary unreimbursed monetary losses because of information compromised as part of the Data Incident are eligible to make a claim for reimbursement of up to $5,000. As part of the claim, the Class Member must show that (1) it is an actual, documented, and unreimbursed monetary loss; (2) the loss was more likely than not caused by the Data Incident; (3) the loss occurred during the time period from August 16, 2021, through and including July 24, 2023; (4) the loss is not already covered by one or more of the categories in FAQ 8; and (5) a reasonable effort was made to avoid or seek reimbursement for the loss (including exhaustion of all available credit monitoring insurance and identity theft insurance).

More details are provided in the Settlement Agreement here.

The deadline to submit a claim for benefits has passed.

To ask for a payment, you must have completed and submitted a valid Claim Form.

The deadline to submit a claim has passed.

The Claims Administrator will initially decide whether the information provided on a Claim Form is complete and valid. The Claims Administrator may require additional information from any claimant. If the required information is not provided timely, the claim will be considered invalid and will not be paid.

If the claim is complete and the Claims Administrator denies the claim entirely or partially, the claimant will be provided an opportunity to have their claim reviewed by an impartial Claim Referee who has been appointed by the Court.

You do not have to do anything to remain in the Settlement, but if you want a payment or complimentary identity protection services, you must submit a Claim Form postmarked by July 24, 2023. The deadline to submit a claim for benefits has passed.

If the Settlement becomes final, you will give up your right to sue Accutech for the claims being resolved by this Settlement. The specific claims you are giving up against Accutech are described in Section 1.20 of the Settlement Agreement. You will be “releasing” Accutech and all related people or entities as described in Section 6 of the Settlement Agreement. The Settlement Agreement is available here.

The Settlement Agreement describes the released claims with specific descriptions, so read it carefully. If you have any questions you can talk to the law firms listed in FAQ 17 for free or you can, of course, talk to your own lawyer at your own expense if you have questions about what this means.

No. If you exclude yourself, you will not be entitled to any benefits of the Settlement, but you will not be bound by any judgment in this case. The deadline to Exclude yourself from the Settlement has passed.

No. Unless you exclude yourself, you give up any right to sue Accutech for the claims that this Settlement resolves. You must exclude yourself from the Settlement Class to start your own lawsuit or to be part of any different lawsuit relating to the claims in this case. If you exclude yourself, do not submit a Claim Form to ask for a payment.

To exclude yourself, send a letter that says you want to be excluded from the Settlement in Sharma v. Accutech Systems Corporation, Case No. 18C02-2210-CT-000135. Include your name, address, and signature. You must mail your Exclusion Request postmarked by April 25, 2023, to the following:

Accutech Settlement Exclusions
P.O. Box 2030
Portland, OR 97208-2030

The deadline to Exclude yourself has passed.

Yes. The Court appointed the following lawyers as Class Counsel: Daniel O. Herrera, Nickolas J. Hagman, and Olivia Lawless of Cafferty Clobes Meriwether & Sprengel LLP, 135 S. LaSalle, Suite 3210, Chicago, IL 60603; Scott Edward Cole, Laura Grace Van Note, and Cody Alexander Bolce of Cole & Van Note, 555 12th Street, Suite 1725, Oakland, CA 94607; and Gary M. Klinger and David K. Lietz of Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman, PLLC, 227 W. Monroe Street, Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60606. You will not be charged for these lawyers. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer, you may hire one at your own expense.

Class Counsel will request the Court’s approval of an award for attorneys’ fees and verified costs and expenses not to exceed $400,000. Class Counsel will also request approval of an incentive award of $2,500 for each of the Representative Plaintiffs. Any amount that the Court awards for attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses and incentive awards will be paid separately by Accutech and will not reduce the amount of payments to Class Members who submit valid claims.

You can object to the Settlement if you do not like it or some part of it. The Court will consider your views. To do so, you must file a written objection in this case, Sharma v. Accutech Systems Corporation, Case No. 18C02-2210-CT-000135, with the Clerk of the Court at the address below.

Your objection must include all of the following:

• your full name, address, telephone number, and email address (if any);
• information identifying you as a Settlement Class Member, including proof that you are a member of the Settlement Class, which is described in response to FAQ 7;
• a written statement of all grounds for the objection, accompanied by any legal support for the objection that you believe is applicable;
• the identity of all counsel representing you, if any, in connection with your objection;
• the identity of all counsel representing you who will appear at the Final Fairness Hearing;
• a list of all persons who will be called to testify at the Final Fairness Hearing in support of the objection;
• a statement confirming whether you intend to personally appear and/or testify at the Final Fairness Hearing; and
• your signature and the signature of your duly authorized attorney or other duly authorized representative (along with documentation setting forth such representation).

To be timely, your objection must be postmarked to the Clerk of the Court for Delaware Circuit Court Two, Delaware County, Indiana, no later than April 25, 2023. In addition, you must mail a copy of your objection to both Class Counsel and Defense Counsel, postmarked no later than April 25, 2023:

The deadline to Object to the Settlement has passed.

Objecting is telling the Court that you do not like the Settlement and why you do not think it should be approved. You can object only if you do not exclude yourself from the Class. Excluding yourself is telling the Court that you do not want to be part of the Class. If you exclude yourself, you have no basis to object because the case no longer affects you.

The Court held a Fairness Hearing at 1:30 p.m. on October 3, 2023. Final approval has been granted and payments have officially been sent out.

No. Class Counsel will present the Settlement Agreement to the Court. You or your own lawyer are welcome to attend at your expense, but you are not required to do so. If you send an objection, you do not have to come to the Court to talk about it. As long as you filed your written objection on time with the Court and mailed it according to the instructions provided in FAQ 19, the Court will consider it.

You may ask the Court for permission to speak at the Fairness Hearing. To do so, you must file an objection according to the instructions in FAQ 19, including all the information required. Your Objection must be filed with the Clerk of the Court for Delaware Circuit Court Two, Delaware County, Indiana, no later than April 25, 2023. In addition, you must mail a copy of your objection to both Class Counsel and Defense Counsel listed in FAQ 19, postmarked no later than April 25, 2023.

If you do nothing, you will get no benefits from this Settlement. Unless you exclude yourself, after the Settlement is granted final approval and the judgment becomes final, you will not be able to start a lawsuit, continue with a lawsuit, or be part of any other lawsuit against Accutech about the legal issues in this case, ever again.

The Notice and this website summarize the proposed Settlement. More details are in the Settlement Agreement. You can get a copy of the Settlement Agreement here. You may also write with questions to Accutech Settlement Administrator, P.O. Box 2030, Portland, OR 97208-2030. You can also download a Claim Form (and other case related documents) from the Important Documents page of this website here or you can request one by calling the toll-free number, 1-888-378-1698.