"A High Court judge has ruled that thousands of people affected by a major data breach at Capita can continue with their legal action against the outsourcing group, in a decision being described as a landmark for large-scale data privacy claims in the UK. In a judgment handed down on 9 February, Master Dagnall rejected arguments from Capita's legal team that solicitors acting for more than 8,000 claimants had abused the court process."
"Capita's lawyers had applied to have the claims struck out, alleging that Barings improperly influenced evidence relating to claimants' anxiety and psychological distress following the breach. However, Master Dagnall concluded that Capita had failed to demonstrate that any abuse of process had occurred. In his judgment, the judge said solicitors had a "real basis" and were entitled to a "wide latitude" when preparing evidence in cases involving large numbers of claimants."
Master Dagnall permitted legal action by over 8,000 claimants against Capita to continue after a 2023 cyber attack exposed personal data of about 6.6 million people, including employees. The compromised information reportedly included sensitive financial and pension details. Capita sought to strike out the claims, alleging solicitors used repetitive descriptions and improperly influenced evidence about claimants' anxiety and psychological distress. The judge found no demonstration of abuse of process, said solicitors had a "real basis" and a "wide latitude" in preparing evidence, noted clients gave informed consent, and described striking out the claims as a "draconian step".
Read at Business Matters
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