The Daily Record reports an appellate decision that is probably quite a relief to Marriott International:
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit has reversed a lower Maryland court’s recertification of plaintiff classes in a pair of consolidated lawsuits filed against Marriott and an information technology service provider for a 2018 data breach, handing down a major win for the international hotel franchise.
In a published opinion authored by Judge Pamela Harris, a 4th Circuit panel held Bethesda-based Marriott International did not waive its right to enforce a class-action waiver, therefore making a class-action provision in its contracts with consumers valid and enforceable.
Last week’s ruling, which comes after more than five years of litigation and the U.S. District Court in Greenbelt initially certifying damages classes, signifies the likely end of the road for the class action lawsuits that accused Marriott and Accenture LLP, a third-party IT service provider, of failing to identify a data breach that began in 2014 and affected upwards of 130 million guest records.
Read more at The Daily Record.
