A Look At Labcorp’s Class Action Lawsuits And The Effect On Its Future
The Labcorp class action lawsuit relates to a recent case in which the company pleaded guilty to securities fraud. The Class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of plaintiffs Robert Oswald, Mary Beth Kerns and Marcia Sorin-rosal, who are suffering from mesothelioma, a life-threatening cancer. The plaintiffs state that Labcorp is among the world leaders in offering medical, diagnostic equipment and clinical laboratory services to hospitals, clinics and other health care centers, with over 2.5 million patient samples processed per week.
In January, it was reported that the Labcorp did not maintain appropriate clinical laboratory policies and procedures in the matter.
This enabled the company to breach the legally binding agreements entered into between them and their class members, causing damages to be awarded to plaintiffs. For several years, Labcorp had provided its customers with a consumer portal where they can access medical reports, obtain laboratory reports, and see a virtual image of their body under a variety of conditions. It was also their policy to only use standard security encryption software when processing credit card information.
On August 12th, the Labcorp notified its class action lawsuit plaintiffs that it would be filing a wrongful death claim against the individual who supplied information to the hackers.
However, in the fall of 2021, the plaintiffs were reportedly informed that they could not file this claim until the next year because of a lack of sufficient evidence to support the claim. There is currently a pending motion in court challenging this delay. The Company is also facing a wrongful death lawsuit brought forth by another individual who is seeking damages for the death of his son. This case is currently set for trial in the spring of 2021.
In the fall of 2021, the Company announced that it would no longer pursue class action lawsuit plaintiffs who have raised issues regarding environmental contamination, financial damage, or securities fraud.
Instead, the company would be focusing on individual securities fraud cases. Labcorp also indicated that it would be reducing the total number of its class action lawsuits. (This is especially notable, as in the past, the Company has vigorously pursued such cases.) Additionally, the company said that it would be increasing its focus on securities fraud within the energy sector.
According to press accounts, Labcorp intends to file one environmental securities fraud class action lawsuit today targeting a member of the labs. This individual allegedly provided advice to Labcorp regarding how to clean contaminated material for shipping purposes. The company was aware of the possible risks associated with this advice, but did not take the necessary precautions to make sure that the materials being shipped did not contain asbestos. As a result, asbestos was found in the thousands of gallons of water that was being used to cool equipment manufactured by Labcorp. This is the second such environmental class action lawsuit Labcorp has filed against an individual, following the first being filed against the company in the spring of 2021.