Judge: Banks' data breach claims against Target can proceed

Target
Shoppers arrive at a Target store in Los Angeles on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2013.
Damian Dovarganes / AP file

Financial institutions suing Target Corp. for negligence in last year's data breach can move forward with the main claims of their lawsuit, a federal judge in St. Paul has ruled.

The company estimates that the financial data of about 110 million consumers was stolen by hackers between Nov. 15, 2013 and Dec. 17, 2013.

Lawyers for Target had challenged assertions by the banks that the company had been negligent in the data breach, violated a Minnesota credit card security law and misrepresented the company's vulnerability to hackers.

The banks' lawyers could proceed with the claims of negligence and violation of the state law, U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson ruled Tuesday. However, he dismissed a claim that Target had been negligent by misrepresenting their security system.

The Minneapolis-based retail giant also faces lawsuits from consumers hit by the data breach, although Magnuson's decision applies only to financial institutions. The lawsuit argues that the breach "has carved a wide trail of substantial consumer harm and injuries to consumers across the United States."

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