Customers promised a $30 voucher and a three-day discount sale

Tim Wilson, Editor in Chief, Dark Reading, Contributor

September 24, 2007

2 Min Read

Would you trade your personally identifiable information for a $30 T.J. Maxx gift certificate and a chance to attend a three-day sale? The plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit against TJX Companies didn't have the opportunity to make that choice, but in the end, that's what they might end up with.

In a Form 8-K document filed with the Securities Exchange Commission, TJX Saturday revealed that it has proposed a $6.5 million settlement with the customers who sued following the disclosure of a security breach that exposed nearly 46 million credit card records. (See TJX Breach Skewers Customers, Banks.)

The settlement would be paid in the form of legal fees and a $30 voucher that can be used in the company's retail stores. If customers can prove damage greater than $30, they will receive two vouchers. The company has also promised a three-day discount sale to take place sometime next year.

About 455,000 customers who lost identity information when they returned merchandise without receipts will get three years of credit monitoring services. There also is some money set aside for customers who can make larger claims, but if the total of those claims exceeds $1 million, those claims will be prorated.

The settlement still must be approved by the courts, which TJX said could take many months. The company is not expecting any resolution until spring of next year.

The settlement has no impact on a number of other suits filed against TJX by banks and financial institutions, which absorbed the majority of the costs associated with the breach.

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About the Author(s)

Tim Wilson, Editor in Chief, Dark Reading

Contributor

Tim Wilson is Editor in Chief and co-founder of Dark Reading.com, UBM Tech's online community for information security professionals. He is responsible for managing the site, assigning and editing content, and writing breaking news stories. Wilson has been recognized as one of the top cyber security journalists in the US in voting among his peers, conducted by the SANS Institute. In 2011 he was named one of the 50 Most Powerful Voices in Security by SYS-CON Media.

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