The Superior Court of Pennsylvania last month dismissed a class action lawsuit, Dittman v. UPMC, brought by employees of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (“UPMC”) for a 2014 data breach. The breach impacted nearly 62,000 UPMC employees and resulted in at least 788 fraudulent tax filings. The court held that UPMC had no duty to safeguard the electronically-stored personal and financial information of its employees. This decision presents a practical analysis of the challenges facing large employers who need to store employee information electronically while also guarding against the ever-present risk of a data breach.
NYC curtails use of credit history in hiring and other employment decisions; exempts cybersecurity jobs
On May 6, 2015, New York City became one of about a dozen jurisdictions that prohibit or restrict the use of consumer credit history in hiring and other employment-related applications. NYC joins California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. There are exceptions, however, including for some jobs implicating cybersecurity concerns.