Frequently Asked Questions

The Court authorized the Notice because you have a right to know about the settlement, and all of your options, before the Court decides whether to give final approval to the settlement. The Notice explains the nature of the lawsuit that is the subject of the settlement, the general terms of the settlement, and your legal rights and options.

The Honorable Judge Sharon Gleason of the United States District Court District of Alaska is overseeing this case captioned as Thomas Byers et. al. v. OrthoAlaska, LLC., Case No. 3:23-cv- 00242. The people who brought the lawsuit are called the Settlement Class Representatives. The company being sued, OrthoAlaska, LLC, is called the Defendant.

The Litigation alleges that on or about October 12, 2022, Defendant became aware of a cybersecurity incident impacting certain company systems. The Litigation alleges that the Data Incident impacted certain private and personally identifying information stored in Defendant’s files, including full names and addresses, dates of birth, Social Security Numbers, payment card numbers, driver’s license and/or state identification numbers, account and routing numbers, health insurance and medical information (these types of information are referred to as protected health information or PHI and personally identifiable information or PII). Specifically, the information of approximately 161,130 people may have been accessed as a result of this Data Incident. 

OrthoAlaska denies any wrongdoing whatsoever. No court or other judicial body has made any judgment or other determination that OrthoAlaska has done anything wrong.

In a class action, one or more persons called “Settlement Class Representatives” or “Plaintiffs” sue on behalf of all people who have similar claims. Together, all of these people are called a “Settlement Class,” and the individuals are called “Settlement Class Members.” One court resolves the issues for all Settlement Class Members, except for those who exclude themselves from the Settlement Class.

The Court has not decided in favor of the Plaintiffs or OrthoAlaska. Instead, both sides agreed to the settlement. The settlement avoids the cost and risk of a trial and related appeals, while providing benefits to Settlement Class Members. The Settlement Class Representatives appointed to represent the Settlement Class and the attorneys for the Settlement Class, Settlement Class Counsel, think the settlement is best for all Settlement Class Members.

You are affected by the settlement and potentially a Settlement Class Member if you are an individual identified on the Settlement Class List whose PII and/or PHI may have been involved in the Data Incident and who do not timely elect to be excluded from the Settlement Class. 

Only Settlement Class Members are eligible to receive benefits under the settlement. Excluded from the Settlement Class are: (1) the judge presiding over the Litigation, and members of their direct family, (2) Defendant, its subsidiaries, parent companies, successors, predecessors, and any entity in which the Defendant or Defendant’s parent companies have a controlling interest and their current or former officers and directors, and (3) Settlement Class Members who submit a valid Request for Exclusion prior to March 3, 2025.

If you are not sure whether you are included in the settlement, you may call (833) 627-2518 with questions. You may also write with questions to:

Settlement Administrator – 83114 
c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC
PO Box 225391
New York, NY 10150-5391

The settlement provides the following compensation available to Settlement Class Members who submit Approved Claims. Settlement Class Members may submit claims for compensation for Out-of-Pocket Losses and either a Cash Fund Payment or one (1) year of Privacy Shield services. Any Remainder Funds will be sent to Court-approved charitable organization(s) as a cy pres distribution. Claims will be subject to review for completeness, plausibility, and traceability to the Data Incident by the Settlement Administrator. Approved Claims will be reimbursed. 

Settlement Class Members submitting claims for Out-of-Pocket Losses must submit documentation supporting their claims. This can include receipts or other documentation that document the costs incurred but does not include documentation that is “self-prepared” by the claimant. “Self-prepared” documents such as handwritten receipts are, by themselves, insufficient to receive reimbursement, but can be considered to add clarity or support to other submitted documentation. 

Following the Data Incident, OrthoAlaska implemented a number of business practice changes and security enhancements designed to prevent future data security incidents.

Settlement Class Members that submit a valid and timely Claim Form may qualify for one of the following:

1. Compensation for Out-of-Pocket Losses: Compensation from the Settlement Fund, up to a total of $4,000 per Settlement Class Member, upon submission of an Approved Claim and supporting documentation for Out-of-Pocket Losses incurred as a result of the 
   Data Incident.

• These Out-of-Pocket Losses may include the following:

Unreimbursed losses relating to fraud or identity theft; professional fees including attorneys’ fees, accountants’ fees, and fees for credit repair services; costs associated with freezing or unfreezing credit with any credit reporting agency; credit monitoring costs that were incurred on or after mailing of the Notice of the Data Incident, through the date of claim submission; and miscellaneous expenses such as notary, fax, postage, copying, mileage, and long-distance telephone charges.

In addition to compensation for Out-of-Pocket Losses, Settlement Class Members may select ONE of the following:

   b. Cash Fund Payment: After the distribution of Administrative Expenses, Service Awards, Out-of-Pocket Losses claims, and Fee Award and Expenses, each Settlement Class Member that submits an Approved Claim, as determined by the Settlement Administrator, may receive a pro rata Cash Fund Payment of up to $50 from the remaining Settlement Fund; 

OR

  c. Privacy Shield: Instead of a Cash Fund Payment, Settlement Class Members are eligible to make a claim for one (1) year of data protection and monitoring services from Privacy Shield.

To receive compensation for Out-of-Pocket Losses, a Cash Fund Payment, or Privacy Shield, you must complete and submit a Claim Form online or by mail to: Settlement Administrator - 83114, c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC, PO Box 225391, New York, NY 10150-5391. Read the Claim Form instructions carefully, fill out the Claim Form, provide the required documentation, and submit online by April 2, 2025, or by mail, postmarked by April 2, 2025.

The Settlement Administrator will decide whether and to what extent any claim made on each Claim Form is an Approved Claim. The Settlement Administrator may require additional information from you. If you do not provide the additional information in a timely manner, the claim will be considered invalid and will not be paid. 

For invalid claims, the Settlement Administrator will send Settlement Class Members submitting such claims a deficiency notice giving the Settlement Class Members twenty-one (21) days to cure any deficiencies.

The Court will hold a Final Approval Hearing on March 11, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. AKT to decide whether to approve the settlement. If the Court approves the settlement, there may be appeals from that decision and resolving them can take time. It also takes time for all of the Claim Forms to be processed. Please be patient. Payments will begin after the settlement has obtained Court approval and the time for all appeals has expired.

OrthoAlaska and its past or present agents, subsidiaries, parents, and affiliates, and their respective employees, officers, directors, shareholders, partners, members, managers, owners, heirs, executors, predecessors, successors, assigns, insurers (including excess insurers and reinsurers), vendors, attorneys, and/or sureties (“Released Parties”) will receive a release from all claims that could have been or that were brought against OrthoAlaska relating to the Data Incident. Thus, if the settlement becomes Final and you do not exclude yourself from the settlement, you will be a Settlement Class Member and you will give up your right to sue the Released Parties. This release is described in the Settlement Agreement, known as Released Parties (as set out above). If you have any questions, you can talk to the law firms, listed in Question 18, for free or you can talk to your own lawyer.

If you do not want to be part of the settlement, then you must take steps to exclude yourself from the Settlement Class. This is sometimes referred to as “opting-out” of the Settlement Class.

No. If you exclude yourself, you will not be entitled to receive any benefits from the settlement.

No. Unless you exclude yourself, you give up any right to sue OrthoAlaska and any other Released Party for any claim that could have been or was brought relating to the Data Incident. You must exclude yourself from the settlement to start your own lawsuit or to be part of any different lawsuit relating to the claims in this case.   

To exclude yourself, send a Request for Exclusion or written notice of intent to opt-out that says you want to be excluded from the settlement in Thomas Byers et. al. v. OrthoAlaska, LLC., Case No. 3:23-cv-00242. The Request for Exclusion must include: (1) the name of the proceeding; (2) the individual’s full name, current address, personal signature; and (3) the words “Request for Exclusion” or a comparable statement that the individual does not wish to participate in the settlement. You must mail your Request for Exclusion to the Settlement Administrator postmarked by March 3, 2025 to:

Settlement Administrator – 83114
c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC
PO Box 225391
New York, NY 10150-5391

You can tell the Court that you do not agree with the settlement or some part of it by objecting to the settlement. For an objection to be a valid objection under the settlement, it must be in writing, postmarked by the Objection Deadline, and mailed to the Settlement Administrator at the address listed below, postmarked by no later than March 3, 2025.

Settlement Administrator – 83114
c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC
PO Box 225391
New York, NY 10150-5391

Your objection must be written and must include all of the following:

1. the name of the proceedings;
    
2. the Settlement Class Member’s full name, current mailing address, email address, and telephone number;
    
3. a statement of the specific grounds for the objection, as well as any documents supporting the objection;
    
4. the identity of any attorneys representing the objector;
    
5. a statement regarding whether the Settlement Class Member (or his/her attorney) intends to appear at the Final Approval Hearing;
    
6. a statement identifying all class action settlements objected to by the Settlement Class Member in the previous five (5) years; and
    
7. the signature of the Settlement Class Member or the Settlement Class Member’s attorney.

Objecting is telling the Court that you do not like the settlement or parts of it and why you do not think it should be approved. You can object only if you are a Settlement Class Member. Excluding yourself is telling the Court that you do not want to be part of the Settlement Class and do not want to receive any payment from the settlement. If you exclude yourself, you have no basis to object because you are no longer a Settlement Class Member, and the case no longer affects you. If you submit both a valid objection and a valid Request for Exclusion, you will be deemed to have only submitted the request to be excluded.

Yes. The Court appointed Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman, PLLC, Chestnut Cambronne, P.A., and Cole & Van Note, as Settlement Class Counsel to represent the Settlement Class in settlement negotiations. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer, you may hire one at your own expense.

Settlement Class Counsel will file a Fee and Expense Application for Settlement Class Counsel’s Fee Award and Expenses, not to exceed one-third (1/3) of the Settlement Fund for fees, or $395,000, plus reimbursement of reasonable case costs and expenses actually incurred, in addition to any attorneys’ fee award. Any such award would compensate Settlement Class Counsel for investigating the facts, litigating the case, and negotiating the settlement, and will be the only payment to them for their efforts in achieving this settlement and for their risk in undertaking this representation on a wholly contingent basis. 

Settlement Class Counsel will also ask the Court for Service Awards up to $2,500 for each of the Settlement Class Representatives, from the Settlement Fund, in recognition of their contributions to this Litigation. 

Any Fee Award and Expenses that will include a request for Service Awards to the Settlement Class Representatives must be approved by the Court. The Court may award less than the amounts requested. Within three (3) days after filing the Fee and Expense Application, the Fee and Expense Application shall be posted on the documents page.

The Court will hold a Final Approval Hearing at 11:00 AM AKT on March 11, 2025 at 222 W. 7th Ave, Anchorage, Alaska, Room 2 as ordered by the Court. At this hearing, the Court will consider whether the settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate. If there are timely and valid objections, the Court will consider them and will listen to people who have asked to speak at the hearing if such a request has been properly made. The Court will also rule on the Fee and Expense Application and Service Awards for the Settlement Class Representatives. After the hearing, the Court will decide whether to approve the settlement. We do not know how long these decisions will take. The hearing may be moved to a different date or time without additional notice, so Settlement Class Counsel recommends checking this website, or calling (833) 627-2518.

No. Settlement Class Counsel will present the Settlement Class to the Court. You or your own lawyer are welcome to attend at your expense, but you are not required to do so. If you send an objection, you do not have to visit the Court to talk about it. As long as you filed your written objection on time with the Court and mailed it according to the instructions provided in Question 16, the Court will consider it.

You may ask the Court for permission to speak at the Final Approval Hearing. To do so, you must file an objection according to the instructions in Question 16, including all the information required. Your objection must be mailed to the Settlement Administrator at the mailing address listed below, postmarked by no later than the March 3, 2025.

Settlement Administrator – 83114
c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC
PO Box 225391
New York, NY 10150-5391

If you do nothing, you will not receive any benefits from this settlement. If the settlement is granted final approval and becomes Final, you will not be able to start a lawsuit, continue with a lawsuit, or be part of any other lawsuit against OrthoAlaska or the other Released Parties based on any claim that could have been or that was brought relating to the Data Incident.

The Notice summarizes the settlement. More details are in the Settlement Agreement itself. A copy of the Settlement Agreement is available here. You may also call the Settlement Administrator with questions or to receive a Claim Form at (833) 627-2518.

It is your responsibility to inform the Settlement Administrator of your updated information. You may do so at the address below:

Settlement Administrator – 83114 

c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC

PO Box 225391

New York, NY 10150-5391