Five veterans’ groups have instituted a class-action lawsuit against the federal government over the theft of a database containing personal data of 26.5 million veterans that an employee of the Department of Veterans Affairs took home. The suit seeks $1,000 in damages for up to all of the 26.5 million at-risk veterans, possibly amounting to a whopping $26.5 billion. The plaintiffs blame VA Secretary R. James Nicholson and other officials because the VA’s inspector general had been warning annually for five years that security of VA’s electronic records was inadequate. The suit also faults the VA for failure to publicize the theft promptly. The plaintiffs are National Gulf War Resource Center, Radiated Veterans of America, Citizen Soldier, Veterans for Peace and Vietnam Veterans of America. The veterans’ complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, seeks:
A declaratory judgment that the VA’s loss of these records violated and continues to violate both the Privacy and Administrative Procedure Acts.
A court order that the VA disclose the exact nature of its compromised records system and that it individually inform veterans of every record it maintains on them.
An injunction preventing the VA from altering any data storage system and prohibiting any further use of these data until a court-appointed panel of experts determines how best to implement safeguards to prevent any further breaches.
A judgment awarding $1,000 to each veteran who has been harmed by the VA’s violation of the Privacy Act.
