Target plea to dismiss data breach lawsuit rejected

Target will have to continue fighting the lawsuit by banks seeking to recover the money they spent reimbursing customers for fraudulent charges made thanks to the retailer’s 2013 data breach.

Banks were also forced to issue new credit and debit cards after hackers stole customer card data from Target’s servers.

A federal judge rejected Target Corp’s bid to dismiss the lawsuit on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

Five bank plaintiffs are seeking class-action on behalf of lenders nationwide, accusing the US retailer of negligence and violation Minnesota consumer protection laws, and are asking for millions of dollars in damages.

U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson in St. Paul, Minnesota agreed that Target was responsible for failing to prevent the hacking of its computer systems and subsequent compromise of at least 40 million credit cards. As many as 110 million people may have had other personal information stolen.

The plaintiffs include Umpqua Holdings Corp’s Umpqua Bank in Roseburg, Oregon; Mutual Bank in Whitman, Massachusetts; Village Bank in St. Francis, Minnesota; CSE Federal Credit Union in Lake Charles, Louisiana; and First Federal Savings of Lorain in Lorain, Ohio.

Affected consumers are also pursuing related class-action litigation over the breach, which Target has also asked to be dismissed.

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