Ex-Sony employees sue, claim company failed to protect data
Reuters
December 17, 2014, 4:25 am
An entrance gate to Sony Pictures Entertainment at the Sony Pictures lot is pictured in Culver City, California April 14, 2013. REUTERS/Fred Prouser
By David Ingram
(Reuters) - Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc has been sued in a class action by two people who described themselves as former employees and accused the company of failing to protect employee data.
The lawsuit against Sony Corp's <6758.T> Hollywood movie studio, filed on Monday in federal court in Los Angeles, alleged that Sony failed to both secure its computer network and to stop hackers.
The plaintiffs are asking for compensation for any damages as well as credit monitoring services, identity theft insurance and other assistance for themselves and any former or current U.S. employees whose data was similarly compromised.
Representatives with Sony did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit.
Unidentified hackers attacked Sony's computer network last month and have released internal documents which they claim were stolen from the company.
Disclosures from the documents have caused turmoil at the studio and exposed internal discussions key to the company's future to public scrutiny.
Reuters has not been able to verify the authenticity of the documents.
On Monday, Sony Pictures executives addressed staff at two separate meetings in a packed sound stage on the company's lot in Culver City, California, saying the studio would recover from the episode and that they should not worry about the studio's future.
The case is Michael Corona and Christina Mathis v. Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, No. 2:14-cv-9600.
(Reporting by David Ingram in New York, additional reporting by Jim Finkle; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and G Crosse)
