Cooper v. Bonobos, Inc.

Cooper v. Bonobos, Inc.

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

JESSE M. FURMAN, United States District Judge:

] To bring a lawsuit in federal court, a plaintiff must have standing, which requires a showing that he or she suffered an "injury in fact." At a minimum, that means a plaintiff must allege and prove that, as a result of the defendant's actions, he or she faces a "substantial risk" of some harm. The question presented in this putative class action — brought [*2]  by Plaintiff Bradley Cooper against Defendant Bonobos, Inc., a men's clothing store — is one with which many courts have grappled in recent years: whether and when someone whose personal information was stolen as part of a data breach can demonstrate a sufficiently "substantial" risk of identity theft or fraud to bring a lawsuit in federal court. ] In general, the answer to that question turns on evaluation of several factors: whether the data was intentionally stolen or otherwise compromised; whether any of the stolen data has already been misused; and whether the stolen data is of a "sensitive" nature and presents a high risk of identity theft or fraud, the paradigmatic example being a Social Security number. Applying these factors here, the Court concludes that Cooper lacks standing to bring claims against Bonobos relating to a 2020 data breach. Put simply, given the age and nature of the data, the risk of identity theft or fraud is too remote to constitute injury in fact. Accordingly, and for the reasons that follow, the Court must and does dismiss this case.

BACKGROUND

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