KANSAS CITY — A putative class-action lawsuit involving Children’s Mercy Hospital was recently removed from the Jackson County Court to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, Western Division.
On July 6, Children’s Mercy Hospital successfully removed the lawsuit to the district court, citing the Class Action Fairness Act, which requires a putative class-action suit to have more than 100 members, to have at least one member from a different state than the other members, and to have the members’ claims exceed $5 million.
The plaintiffs, only identified by their initials K.A. and B.W., allege that in March 2017, a Children’s Mercy Hospital employee uploaded patient information of 5,512 individuals to a website that was not owned or operated by the hospital. Shortly thereafter, the hospital sent a notice to individuals who may have been impacted by the upload of sensitive information.
The release of the patient information, the plaintiffs claim, exposed the class-action members to a heightened risk of identity theft and resulted in personal suffering due to embarrassment, loss of privacy and loss of enjoyment of life. Many of the members in the class-action suit, they argue, were forced to purchase credit monitoring services that they did not want or need before the alleged upload of personal information.
As a result of this alleged misconduct, the plaintiffs seek damages, rescission and restitution, the total of which is approximated at more than $11 million.
The plaintiffs are represented by Maureen Brady and Lucy McShane of McShane & Brady, LLC in Kansas City, as well as Anne Schiavone of Holman Schiavone, LLC in Kansas City. The defendants are represented by Martin Loring, Michael Raupp and Michael Owens of Husch Blackwell LLP in Kansas City, as well as Casie Collignon and Matthew Baisley of Baker & Hostetler LLP in Denver.