Class-action lawsuit filed against Aflac after data breach from cyber attack
A class-action lawsuit has been filed in Columbus against Aflac after last week’s disclosure of a cyber attack potentially compromising private information of an unclear number of customers.
Attorneys from three law firms filed the lawsuit Tuesday in the Columbus Division of the U.S. District Court in the Middle District of Georgia. Aflac, a supplemental insurance company, is headquartered in Columbus.
In its June 20 news release announcing the data breach, Aflac said it was too early to determine the total number of affected people, but the exposed files could contain claims information, health information, Social Security numbers “and/or other personal information related to customers, beneficiaries, employees, agents and other individuals in our U.S. business.”
The class-action complaint was filed on behalf of a lead plaintiff identified by only the initials L.P., who lives in Kansas City, Kansas, and is an Aflac customer, as well as “all others similarly situated,” according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges “failure to implement reasonable and industry standard data security practices to properly secure, safeguard, and adequately destroy Plaintiff and Class Members’ sensitive personal information that it had acquired and stored for its business purposes.”
The plaintiff seeks unspecified “compensatory damages, reimbursement of out-of-pocket costs, and injunctive relief including improvements to Defendant’s data security systems, future annual audits, as well as long-term and adequate credit monitoring services funded by Defendant, and declaratory relief.”
In an email Thursday to the Ledger-Enquirer, Aflac spokesman Jon Sullivan said, “While we are unable to comment on litigation, Aflac’s priority is to support our customers as we respond to this incident.”
Asked for an update on the number of customers with exposed data, Sullivan said, “We are in the early stages of the investigation and not able to determine yet the number of people impacted.”
Aflac is offering any customer who contacts the company’s dedicated call center free credit monitoring, identity theft protection and Medical Shield for 24 months.
The call center can be reached at 855-361-0305 Mondays through Fridays from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. EDT and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. EDT. It also will be open Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. EDT until July 1.
More information about resources available to customers following the data breach is available at Aflac.com.
“Please note that we continue to serve our customers and are underwriting policies, reviewing claims, and otherwise servicing our customers as usual,” Sullivan said.
Aflac has more than 50 million customers worldwide, according to its LinkedIn account. The majority of Aflac’s customers are in Japan, but it is ranked No. 222 on the latest Fortune 500 list of U.S. companies generating the most revenue ($18.9 billion with 12,700 employees).
The attorneys and law firms representing the plaintiff and the proposed class are:
- MaryBeth Gibson of Gibson Consumer Law Group in Atlanta
- Sharon Zinns of Zinns Law in Atlanta
- Maureen Brady and Lucy McShane of McShane & Brady in Kansas City, Missouri.
This story was originally published June 26, 2025 at 10:59 AM.
