Wawa’s $10.7M Mastercard Breach Dispute All But Over

Wawa, the convenience store chain, has just stumbled in its legal dance
with Mastercard. The $10.7 million lawsuit, charging the payments giant with breach
of contract and other misdeeds following a 2019 data breach, has hit a snag.
The United States District Court of the Southern District of New York just
threw out four of Wawa’s five claims against Mastercard “without
prejudice.” That means Wawa has until October 23 to refile those claims.
As for the fifth claim, which accused Mastercard of shady business practices,
it’s gone for good.

The legal tango started with a malware attack on Wawa’s credit card
system in 2019, affecting about 34 million payment cards used across all its
stores. Mastercard initially slapped a hefty $17.8 million reimbursement
assessment against Wawa’s bank, Bank of America. After some haggling, that
figure was whittled down to the current $10.7 million.

Mastercard Gets Wawa $10.7M Data Breach Fee Suit Trimmed – Law360 https://t.co/e1P7NZbzED

— 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗹 (@secguro) September 21, 2023

Now, aside from accusing Mastercard of behaving badly, Wawa’s suit also
throws breach of contract, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair
dealing, and “unjust enrichment” into the mix. The court, however,
sees these five claims as just one breach of contract claim, which makes
Mastercard’s argument for dismissal “procedurally proper.”

This legal battle is just one chapter in a story of woes stemming from
the 2019 breach. Earlier this year, Wawa agreed to a $12
million settlement for affected customers, followed by an $8
million settlement shared among several states. And let’s not forget the up
to $28.5
million Wawa is paying to settle negligence claims tied to the breach.

It just goes to show that data security should never be taken lightly. It would be a really bad idea to, for example, post some code on a public website and accidentally give the denizens of the internet access to 38 terabytes of your company information.

It also goes to show that, through
Mastercard will seemingly partner
with just about anyone, the company doesn’t take accusations of misbehavior
lightly. There are rich rewards to be had, but high prices to pay when things
go wrong.

Wawa, the convenience store chain, has just stumbled in its legal dance
with Mastercard. The $10.7 million lawsuit, charging the payments giant with breach
of contract and other misdeeds following a 2019 data breach, has hit a snag.
The United States District Court of the Southern District of New York just
threw out four of Wawa’s five claims against Mastercard “without
prejudice.” That means Wawa has until October 23 to refile those claims.
As for the fifth claim, which accused Mastercard of shady business practices,
it’s gone for good.

The legal tango started with a malware attack on Wawa’s credit card
system in 2019, affecting about 34 million payment cards used across all its
stores. Mastercard initially slapped a hefty $17.8 million reimbursement
assessment against Wawa’s bank, Bank of America. After some haggling, that
figure was whittled down to the current $10.7 million.

Mastercard Gets Wawa $10.7M Data Breach Fee Suit Trimmed – Law360 https://t.co/e1P7NZbzED

— 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗹 (@secguro) September 21, 2023

Now, aside from accusing Mastercard of behaving badly, Wawa’s suit also
throws breach of contract, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair
dealing, and “unjust enrichment” into the mix. The court, however,
sees these five claims as just one breach of contract claim, which makes
Mastercard’s argument for dismissal “procedurally proper.”

This legal battle is just one chapter in a story of woes stemming from
the 2019 breach. Earlier this year, Wawa agreed to a $12
million settlement for affected customers, followed by an $8
million settlement shared among several states. And let’s not forget the up
to $28.5
million Wawa is paying to settle negligence claims tied to the breach.

It just goes to show that data security should never be taken lightly. It would be a really bad idea to, for example, post some code on a public website and accidentally give the denizens of the internet access to 38 terabytes of your company information.

It also goes to show that, through
Mastercard will seemingly partner
with just about anyone, the company doesn’t take accusations of misbehavior
lightly. There are rich rewards to be had, but high prices to pay when things
go wrong.