UPMC workers' data breach lawsuit goes to Pennsylvania Supreme Court

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court agreed to hear a 2014 class-action lawsuit filed by employees of Pittsburgh-based UPMC filed against the health system, the Tribune-Review reports.

The plaintiffs seek damages from a data breach discovered in 2014, which reportedly exposed personal information from 62,000 employees and former employees, including names, Social Security numbers and bank accounts, among other data.

In February 2015, Allegheny County Judge R. Stanton Wettick dismissed the class-action lawsuit, which alleged UPMC had a legal duty to secure its employees' data, according to the Tribune-Review. Mr. Wettick concluded the health system didn't claim to protect information while collecting it.

The plaintiffs appealed to the Supreme Court after a three-judge panel of the state Superior Court upheld Mr. Wettick's ruling in January. Plaintiffs proceeded to appeal the case to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

Editor's note: Becker's Hospital Review reached out to UPMC for comment and will update as more information becomes available.

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