AT&T has asked a federal judge in Texas to halt last-minute discovery demands from a small group of customers objecting to a proposed $177 million data breach settlement, arguing the requests are designed to delay or derail final court approval.

In filings this week, the telecom giant urged the court to issue a protective order preventing five objectors from pursuing expansive document and deposition requests just days before the scheduled final approval hearing. U.S. District Judge Ada Brown responded by ordering the objectors to file their response by the end of Wednesday.

The proposed settlement, which received preliminary approval in June, is intended to resolve nationwide litigation stemming from a data exposure that affected more than 70 million current and former AT&T customers. The compromised information included sensitive personal data such as Social Security numbers that later appeared for sale online.

According to AT&T, the objectors waited months after the court’s preliminary approval — and well past multiple objection deadlines — before issuing sweeping discovery demands on New Year’s Eve. The company says the timing strongly suggests an effort to interfere with the settlement process rather than a genuine need for information.

“The only logical conclusion is that this untimely discovery is intended to disrupt a final approval hearing that is just days away,” AT&T told the court, adding that the objectors never sought judicial permission before issuing the requests.

AT&T also argued that the requested discovery targets not only the company, but class counsel and the settlement administrator, further undermining the efficiency and authority of the court-supervised process.

The objectors reportedly seek discovery to support their argument that AT&T should not be allowed to enter a classwide settlement because it has previously enforced arbitration clauses and class action waivers against customers. AT&T countered that those arguments are already fully briefed and do not justify late-stage discovery.

A spokesperson for AT&T declined to comment. Representatives for the objecting customers did not immediately respond.

Judge Brown has not yet ruled on the request for a protective order. If granted, the decision would clear the path for the court to consider final approval of the settlement without further delay.

In re: AT&T Inc. Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, case number 3:24-cv-00757, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.