Judge throws out lawsuit against Columbus over data breach

p Now pp47pp Mon pp75pp Tue pp77ppby WSYX StaffppTOPICSppCOLUMBUS Ohio WSYX A Franklin County judge dismissed a lawsuit against the city of Columbus which claimed it failed to follow industry standards and federal guidelines for data securityppThe lawsuit was filed last year after the ransomware group Rhysida claimed it stole over 6 terabytes of city data and posted it for sale The incident caused the city to shut down multiple systems and take months to bring some of them back onlineppppFive of the plaintiffs suing under John Doe pseudonyms are city employees with one serving as an undercover police officer and another as a firefighter A sixth plaintiff is a residentppThey claim unauthorized purchases were made fraudulent bank accounts were opened and threatening emails demanded ransom or data exposurepp Judge Carl Aveni threw out the lawsuit on September 26 saying in part that he was bound by the law to dismiss due to Columbus having political subdivision immunityppThe Court does not reach its conclusion in this matter lightly Plaintiffs have allegedly suffered meaningful harm through no fault of their own the judge wrote Were the Defendant a private actor instead of a political subdivision Plaintiffs tort claims would almost certainly survive a motion to dismiss allowing them to test their suit shoulder their burden of proof and seek whatever redress their evidence and the law might allow All of that is thwarted hereppOhios Political Subdivision Tort Liability Act gives some protection and immunity to political subdivisions and employees Though the plaintiffs tried to argue the citys IT department was a proprietary function and not a government function the judge sided with the city and determined IT was not exempt from immunityppIt is unclear if plaintiffs will appeal the decision ppp