The plaintiffs in the data theft lawsuit against the Department of Veterans Affairs will turn over $13 million to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, which raises money for families of soldiers killed in combat and for veterans-related services, and the Fisher House Foundation, which operates homes near VA hospitals for military families to use.

 

The data theft case was a class action lawsuit involving 17.5 million veterans whose personal information became exposed after a VA employee’s laptop was stolen from the employee’s home in May 2006. Although the laptop was recovered by the FBI eight weeks later, and it was determined that the information had not been accessed, the federal government established a fund to cover the out-of-pocket expenses incurred by veterans and their families to protect or monitor their personal financial details.

 

Veterans who filed claims before November 27, 2009, were eligible to collect part of the settlement. The $13 million that is going to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund and the Fisher House Fund comes from the uncollected portion of the settlement fund.

 

President Barack Obama also donated a portion of his Nobel Peace Prize award to Fisher House.

-David Wallechinsky, Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Vets Use Settlement Millions from Massive Identity-Theft Suit against VA to Help Other Vets (by Stephanie Gaskell, New York Daily News)

Department of Veterans Affairs Data Theft Litigation (VeteransClass.com)

Class Action Settlement (U.S. District Court, District of Columbia) (pdf)