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In a significant ruling on Friday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Kandis A. Westmore partially dismissed a proposed class action against X Corp., maintaining the users' right to amend certain allegations while permanently rejecting a California Consumers Legal Remedies Act claim.

X Corp Must Face Breach Suit Over 200M Users : Dismissal and Potential for Amendment

Judge Westmore's order dismissed without prejudice the users' breach of contract, negligence, negligence per se, and unjust enrichment claims, citing X Corp.'s argument that these claims were restricted by its terms of service. However, the judge emphasized that the users could amend their claims to address the unconscionability of the terms.

Remaining Claims and Allegations

Despite the dismissals, the judge upheld the users' claim for gross negligence and their pursuit of a declaratory judgment, asserting that X Corp. failed in its legal duty to safeguard consumers' personally identifiable information.

X Corp Must Face Breach Suit Over 200M Users : Background of the Lawsuit

The lawsuit originated in January 2023 and was amended the subsequent month by lead plaintiffs Stephen Gerber, Eric Cohen, and Casey Weitzman. They accused X Corp. of inadequately addressing a vulnerability in its application programming interface (API), leading to a security breach from June 2021 through January 2022.

Scope of the Breach and Alleged Inaction

According to the complaint, the breach compromised Twitter users' usernames, email addresses, and phone numbers, even affecting accounts seeking anonymity. The users further claimed that X Corp. failed to grasp the breach's extent and potentially misled users about its severity when disclosing the vulnerability in August 2022.

Response and Legal Arguments

X Corp. filed a motion to dismiss in June, asserting legal defects in the lawsuit. The company argued that its terms of service, disclaiming guarantee of information security, should nullify the users' claims. Moreover, X Corp. contested the absence of explicit harm experienced by the plaintiffs and raised doubts regarding the anonymity of the affected accounts prior to the incident.

Ongoing Legal Proceedings

At a hearing in February, the users' counsel proposed amendments to address X Corp.'s concerns. They also agreed to withdraw the claim under the state Consumers Legal Remedies Act.

X Corp Must Face Breach Suit Over 200M Users : Awaiting Comments

Neither party's representatives responded to requests for comment following the recent ruling.

Representation

The plaintiffs are represented by Joseph P. Guglielmo of Scott + Scott Attorneys at Law LLP.

X Corp. is represented by Stephen A. Broome, Viola Trebicka, and Casey Adams of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP.