Morrisons data leak claim involving over 5,550 employees gets October trial date

An ongoing legal battle for damages involving more than 5,500 Morrisons employees following a data leak will enter its next phase at the High Court in London in October.

The claimants are seeking compensation from the supermarket chain over a breach of data security in 2014, when a former senior internal auditor at the Morrisons’ Bradford headquarters posted payroll information of nearly 100,000 staff on the internet.

The leak also included the staff members’ bank, salary and National Insurance details, addresses and phone numbers.

Following a trial at Bradford Crown Court, ‘insider’ Andrew Skelton was jailed for eight years after he was found guilty of sending the information to local and national newspapers and placed it on data sharing websites.

A total of 5,518 current and former Morrisons staff are pursuing a claim for damages after the High Court made a Group Litigation Order in 2015.

A trial to determine liability for the data leak is due to start at the High Court in London on Monday, October 9th. It is scheduled to last for two weeks.

The case is thought to be the biggest-ever claim in relation to a data breach in the UK.

The claimants say Morrisons failed to prevent the leak, which they argue exposed employees to the risk of identity theft and potential financial loss and was ultimately legally responsible for breaches of privacy, confidence and data protection laws.

Morrisons denies all legal liability.

If the High Court rules that Morrisons is liable for the data leak, there would then be a further ‘quantum’ trial to assess the victims’ damages.

Nick McAleenan, a partner and data privacy law specialist at JMW Solicitors, is representing the claimants.

He said: “At the trial in October, the court will decide whether Morrisons bears any legal responsibility for the misuse and disclosure of the payroll information of the many thousands of people bringing claims in this case.”