A Florida federal judge has given preliminary approval to a $10 million settlement resolving claims that Watson Clinic LLP failed to safeguard patient information during a 2024 cyberattack that compromised hundreds of thousands of medical records and images.
U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday called the deal “fair, adequate and reasonable,” marking a major step toward closure in the class action accusing the Lakeland-based medical group of negligence, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and violations of Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.
The agreement, proposed in July by plaintiffs Charles Viviani and David Thorpe, will compensate a class of 280,278 individuals whose data was exposed when hackers infiltrated Watson’s systems in January 2024.
Cash Awards Based on Sensitivity of Leaked Images
Under the settlement, Watson Clinic will create a nonreversionary $10 million fund to reimburse victims. Payments will range from $100 to $75,000, depending on the nature of the published medical images.
