Judge dismisses UPMC 'data breach' lawsuit

An Allegheny County judge has dismissed a class-action lawsuit against UPMC for a data breach last year that affected several thousand employees.

The lawsuit claimed the health care giant left its employees vulnerable to attackers, allowing hackers to steal their private information.

Common Pleas Judge R. Stanton Wettick wrote in his 14-page opinion filed Thursday that UPMC also was a victim of the cyber attack and that an improved system for storing confidential information would not have necessarily prevented the breach.

Additionally, there was no “meeting of the minds” in which UPMC agreed to be liable for such security breaches, Wettick wrote.

Michael Kraemer, the attorney who filed the lawsuit, could not be reached.

A UPMC spokeswoman did not immediately return messages.

Adam Brandolph is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at 412-391-0927 or abrandolph@tribweb.com.