Myshka v. Wolfe Eye Clinic, P.C.

The Court directed that the website be provided because you have a right to know about a proposed settlement that has been reached in this class action lawsuit and about all of your options before the Court decides whether to grant final approval of the Settlement. If the Court approves the Settlement, and after objections or appeals, if any, are resolved, the Settlement Administrator appointed by the Court will distribute the payments that the Settlement allows. The website explains the lawsuit, the Settlement, your legal rights, what payments are available, who is eligible for them, and how to get them. 

The Court overseeing this case is the Iowa District Court for Marshall County, Iowa.  The case is known as Myshka v. Wolfe Clinic, P.C., Civil Action No. CV CI 011151 (the “Lawsuit”). The people who filed the Lawsuit are called the Plaintiffs and the entity they sued, Wolfe, is called the Defendant.

The Court did not decide in favor of the Plaintiffs or Wolfe. Instead, the Plaintiffs negotiated a Settlement with Wolfe that allows both Plaintiffs, the proposed Class, and Wolfe to avoid the risks and costs of lengthy and uncertain litigation and the uncertainty of a trial and appeals. The Settlement provides benefits and allows Settlement Class members to obtain payment for certain costs without further delay. The Class Representatives and their attorneys think the Settlement is in the best interest of all Settlement Class members. This Settlement does not mean that Wolfe did anything wrong.

You are part of the Settlement as a Settlement Class Member if you are an individual whose private information was maintained on Wolfe’s computer systems and/or network that was compromised in the Data Incident. If so, you were mailed a notice by Wolfe on approximately June 29, 2021, regarding the Data Incident. Approximately 500,000 individuals were notified of the Data Incident.

Yes. Specifically excluded from the Settlement Class are: any Person who submits a valid request for exclusion to the Settlement Administrator.

The Settlement provides for a Maximum Payout by Wolfe of $2,000,000 which will include payments for claimed expense reimbursements by members of the Class, costs for claimed Financial Shield® services, Settlement Administration Costs, Service Awards to named Plaintiffs, and attorney’s fees and costs.

There are two types of payments that are available to Settlement Class Members: (1) Ordinary Expense Reimbursements (FAQ 8, below) and (2) Extraordinary Expense Reimbursements (FAQ 9, below).  You may submit a claim for either or both types of payments if you have incurred the defined costs under these categories.  To claim each type of payment, you must provide related documentation with the Claim Form.

The Settlement also provides for up to two years of Financial Shield® services (FAQ 10, below) to be provided to Settlement Class Members.

The Settlement also provides that Wolfe has improved information security enhancements since the Data Incident and will commit to security assessments in 2022 and 2023, and to implement any security recommendations as a result of those assessments.

• bank fees, long distance phone charges, cell phone charges (only if charged by the minute), data charges (only if charged based on the amount of data used), postage, or gasoline for local travel; 
  
  
• fees for credit reports, credit monitoring, or other identity theft insurance product purchased between June 29, 2021 and February, 14, 2022 ;
  
  
• reimbursement of up to twenty-five (25) hours of documented lost time (at $20 per hour) spent dealing with the Data Incident, e.g., time spent dealing with replacement card issues, reversing fraudulent charges, rescheduling medical appointments and/or finding alternative medical care and treatment, retaking or submitting to medical tests, locating medical records, retracing medical history, and any other demonstrable form of disruption to medical care and treatment, but only if the time can be documented with a sworn attestation detailing how the time was spent.
  

Class Members who had other extraordinary unreimbursed monetary losses because of information compromised as part of the Breach, above and beyond those categories of costs above under “Ordinary Expense Reimbursement,” are eligible to make a claim for reimbursement of up to $5,000.  As part of the claim, the Class Member must show that: (1) it is an actual, documented, and unreimbursed monetary loss; (2) the loss was more likely than not caused by  the Data Incident; (3) the loss occurred during the time period from February 8, 2021 through and including the end of the applicable claims period; (4) the loss is not already covered by one or more of the categories in FAQ 8; and (5) a reasonable effort was made to avoid or seek reimbursement for the loss (including exhaustion of all available credit monitoring insurance and identity theft insurance).

More details are provided in the Settlement Agreement, which is available on the Documents page of this website.

All Settlement Class Members will be provided an access code to enable them to enroll in Financial Shield® services for a period of 2-years from the effective date of the service without the need to submit a Settlement Claim. Financial Shield monitors and protects registered financial accounts for account changes and account takeover attempts. This service will notify consumers in near real-time if there is a change in any account, new signatory request or signatory deletion, new account opening, wire transfer requests and many more events targeted by hackers and online thieves. Financial Shield is backed by customer support and victim assistance specifically trained in identity theft restoration and a $1 million insurance with no deductible in the event you experience fraud. This service is provided to all Settlement Class Members for a period of two years with the ability of Settlement Class Members to enroll at any point for the duration of the contract (meaning that a Settlement Class Members could enroll in year 2 and have coverage for the duration of the term of the contract).  Such coverage and flexibility in enrollment provide protection for Settlement Class Members against future identity theft.  

Settlement Class Members who are under 18 years of age are eligible to enroll in the Financial Shield services by being added by a parent or guardian to an applicable family plan account whose primary member is at least 18 years of age and by following the applicable enrollment instructions including (without limitation) providing Pango with a valid social security number and other information requested.

To ask for a payment, you must complete and submit a Claim Form.  Claim Forms are available here, or you may request one by mail by calling 1-833-910-4491.  Read the instructions carefully, fill out the Claim Form, and submit it online or mail it postmarked no later than June 14, 2022 to:

Myshka v. Wolfe Eye Clinic
c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC
PO Box 5324
New York, NY 10150-5324 

To enroll in Financial Shield® services, visit the following website and enter your information: https://app.financialshield.com/enrollment/activate/wlf . You will need the 16-digit activation code printed on your postcard notice to enroll. If you do not have your 16-digit activation code, contact the Settlement Administrator on our contact page, or 1-833-910-4491.

The Court will hold a Final Approval Hearing at 9:00 a.m. CT on June 17, 2022 to decide whether to approve the Settlement. If the Court approves the Settlement, there may be appeals. It is always uncertain whether any appeals can be resolved favorably, and resolving them can take time, perhaps more than a year. It also takes time for all the Claim Forms to be processed, depending on the number of claims submitted and whether any appeals are filed. Please be patient.

You do not have to do anything to remain in the Settlement, but if you want a payment you must submit a Claim Form online or postmarked by June 14, 2022. If you only want Financial Shield® services, all you need to do is use the code provided to you. If you have any questions about your code for Financial Shield® services, visit this website for additional information.

If the Settlement becomes final, you will give up your right to sue Wolfe for the claims being resolved by this Settlement.  The specific claims you are giving up against Wolfe are described in Paragraphs 36, 68, and 80 – 82 of the Settlement Agreement.  You will be “releasing” Wolfe and all related people or entities as described in Paragraph 35, and Section XIII of the Settlement Agreement.  The Settlement Agreement is available on the Documents page of this website.

The Settlement Agreement describes the released claims with specific descriptions, so read it carefully.  If you have any questions about what this means you can talk to the law firms listed in Question 19 for free or you can, of course, talk to your own lawyer at your own expense.

No. If you exclude yourself from the Settlement, you will not be entitled to any benefits of the Settlement, but you will also not be bound by any judgment in this case.

No. Unless you exclude yourself from the Settlement, you give up any right to sue Wolfe for the claims that this Settlement resolves. You must exclude yourself from the Settlement Class to start your own lawsuit or to be part of any different lawsuit relating to the claims in this case. If you exclude yourself, do not submit a Claim Form to ask for a payment.

To exclude yourself from the Settlement, you must send a letter by mail stating that you want to be excluded from the Settlement in Myshka v. Wolfe Clinic, P.C., Civil Action No. CV CI 011151. Your letter must also include your full name, current address, and signature. You must mail your exclusion request postmarked no later than May 16, 2022 to:

No. Class Counsel will answer any questions the Court may have. However, you are welcome to attend at your own expense. If you file an objection, you do not have to come to Court to talk about it. You may also hire your own lawyer to attend, at your own expense, but you are not required to do so. 

Yes. The website summarizes the proposed Settlement. More details are in the Stipulation and Settlement Agreement, which is available on the Documents page of this website, or by writing to the Wolfe Settlement Administrator,