RHODE ISLAND CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT FILED AS FALLOUT FROM COMPUTER STOLEN FROM VETERANS AFFAIRS http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20060609005483&newsLang=en

THE MASON LAW FIRM ANNOUNCES CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

The Mason Law Firm, P.C., The Law Offices of Peter N. Wasylyk, and The Law Office of Andrew S. Kierstead today filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of all individuals whose private personal information, including Social Security numbers, was disclosed by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs in May 2006. The suit, Daniel Kennedy, et al. v. United States Department of Veterans Affairs, et al., was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

On or about May 3, 2006, a low-ranking data analyst and long-time Veterans Affairs ("VA") employee, removed from VA facilities VA files containing the private personal information (including names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, disability ratings, and certain medical information) of 26.5 million persons comprised of veterans discharged since 1975 and as many as 1.1 million active-duty military personnel, 430,000 National Guard members and 645,000 reserve members and had taken the files to his home. The VA employee then copied the files onto hiscomputer and/or external disks for an unspecified purpose. The employee's computer and/or disks -- which are not believed to be encrypted or password protected -- were then allegedly stolen during a burglary of the employee's home and have not been recovered as of the date of the filing of this Complaint. VA officials knew about thetheft within hours of the crime but did not inform Secretary of Veterans Affairs R. James Nicholson until 13 days later. And, upon learning of the above-described disclosures, VA Secretary Nicholson and VA Deputy Secretary Gordon G. Mansfield unreasonably delayed reporting the disclosures to law enforcement agencies despite knowledge of the imminent and substantial risk of serious harm to the personal security of the affected veterans.

Making this security breach even more egregious is the fact that the VA knew or should have known that its computer security practices were not in compliance with federal laws relating to information security. In 2003, a study conducted by the General Accounting Office (GAO) gave the VA a failing grade for itscomputer security practices. In March 2006, the United States House of Representative's Committee on Government Reform gave the VA an "F" in its annual report card relating to information security. Despite this ample and specific notice of noncompliance and the potential adverse effect of random and unauthorized disclosures of personal information, the VA failed to establish appropriate safeguards to ensure the security and confidentiality of veteran records and to protect against any anticipated threats or hazards to the security and integrity of these records. Evidence of this is provided by the fact that the VA employee who removed the data of the 26.5 million servicepersons from the VA facility had been removing such data from VA facilities for a period three years.

The VA's loss of the private personal information of 26.5 million current or former military servicepersons is unprecedented in scope and raises concerns about the safety of U.S. military forces and the danger of credit or identifytheft . Despite this, the VA (although it has fired the employee who removed the data from VA facilities) has not provided credit monitoring or identity protection to the affected veterans or current servicepersons.

The Mason Law Firm, P.C., which has offices in Washington, D.C. and New York City, is a leading class action law firm representing plaintiffs throughout the nation. The Law Offices of Peter N. Wasylyk, based in Providence, Rhode Island, and The Law Office of Andrew S. Kierstead, based in Portland, Oregon, are also leading class action law firms representing plaintiffs nationally.

A copy of the Complaint is available at http://www.masonlawdc.com.