Frequently Asked Questions

A Court authorized the Notice because you have a right to know about the proposed Settlement of this class action and about all of your options before the Court decides whether to grant Final Approval of the Settlement. This Settlement Website explains the Action, your legal rights, what benefits are available, and who can receive them.

The Action is captioned In re American Addiction Centers, Inc. Data Breach Litigation, No. 3:24-cv-01505 (United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee). The people who filed this Action are called the Plaintiffs and the company they sued, American Addiction Centers, Inc., is called the Defendant.

This Action alleges that Defendant failed to secure and safeguard patients’ Private Information including names, dates of birth, addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, medical record numbers or other identifiers, Social Security Numbers, treatment information, and health insurance information. The Action further alleges that as a result of this failure, patients’ Private Information was accessed by cybercriminals in a Data Incident on or about September 26, 2024, which Defendant notified patients about between November and December 2024.

Defendant denies all of the Plaintiffs’ claims and maintains that it did not do anything wrong.

In a class action, one or more individuals sue on behalf of other people with similar claims. These individuals who sue are known as “Class Representatives” or “Plaintiffs.” Together, the people included in the class action are called a “Settlement Class” or “Settlement Class Members.” One court resolves the lawsuit for all Settlement Class Members, except for those who exclude themselves (sometimes called “opting out”) from a settlement. In this Action, the Class Representatives are Ethan Parker, Tracy Lee Jay, Nikolaos Skourtis, Mary Deboer, James Bouchereau, Courtney Cox, Samantha Rainey, Athena Luth, Anell Capellan, Jason Lanagan, Chris Kidder, Patricia Ellison, and Ron Prosky.

The Court did not decide in favor of the Plaintiffs or the Defendant. Defendant denies all claims and contends that it has not violated any laws. Plaintiffs and Defendant agreed to a Settlement to avoid the costs and risks of a trial, and, through the Settlement, Participating Settlement Class Members are eligible to claim Participating Settlement Class Member Benefits. The Plaintiffs and Class Counsel, who also represents the Settlement Class Members, think the Settlement is best for all Settlement Class Members. 

The Settlement Class consists of all persons whose Private Information was potentially compromised in the Data Incident, including all individuals to whom Defendant sent an individual notification letter regarding the Data Incident.

Yes. Excluded from the Settlement Class are (a) all persons who are directors and officers of Defendant or its respective subsidiaries and affiliated companies; (b) governmental entities; (c) the Judge(s) assigned to the Action, the Judge’s immediate family, and Court staff; and (d) any Settlement Class Member who timely and validly requests to be excluded from this Settlement. 

If approved by the Court, Defendant will establish a $2,750,000 Settlement Fund. After deducting court-approved attorneys’ fees and costs, Service Award payments, and the Settlement Administration Costs, the balance of the Settlement Fund will be used to provide Settlement benefits to all Participating Settlement Class Members who submit Valid Claims.

Settlement Class Members may file a Claim Form to receive (1) Credit Monitoring, (2) reimbursement of documented expenses, and (3) an estimated $50 pro rata cash payment. 

Participating Settlement Class Members may enroll in two (2) years of Credit Monitoring and identity theft protection services. The Credit Monitoring and identity theft protection services will be provided by one of the major credit bureaus and include at least $1,000,000 in identity theft protection insurance. This benefit is available to all Participating Settlement Class Members regardless of whether they enrolled in the credit monitoring offer included in the Data Incident notification letter sent by Defendant.

Participating Settlement Class Members may submit a Claim for reimbursement of documented expenses and losses that are fairly traceable to the Data Incident, up $5,000 for each Claimant. Claims for reimbursement of documented expenses and losses must be supported with third-party documentation and the expense or loss must be an actual, documented, and unreimbursed monetary expense or loss, fairly traceable the Data Incident, and incurred after the first date of the Data Incident, and must not have been already covered by one or more of the other reimbursement categories or otherwise reimbursed by a third-party, including a financial institution. 

Categories of reimbursable expenses include, but are not limited to, (1) losses from fraudulent transactions wherein an unauthorized individual diverted, debited, withdrew, or otherwise conducted fraudulent operations to deprive the Claimant of actual money and such money; (2) bank fees; (3) postage; (4) copying; (5) travel costs; (6) notary fees related to addressing the misuse of the Settlement Class Members’ Private Information; (7) fees for credit repair services; and (8) costs for additional credit reports, credit monitoring, or other identity theft insurance products.

Participating Settlement Class Members may submit a Claim for an estimated $50 pro rata cash payment to compensate them for their alleged privacy harm. This cash payment is in addition to any Claims for Credit Monitoring and reimbursement for document expenses. The cash payment may be increased or decreased on a pro rata basis.

Unless you opt-out of the Settlement, you cannot sue, continue to sue, or be part of any other lawsuit against Defendant or the Released Parties about any of the legal claims this Settlement resolves. The Release section in the Settlement Agreement describes the legal claims that you give up if you remain in the Settlement Class. The Settlement Agreement can be found on the Documents page of this Settlement Website.

You must submit a Claim Form by March 23, 2026. Claim Forms may be submitted online via this Settlement Website by 11:59 p.m. (CT), or printed from the Documents page of this Settlement Website and mailed, postmarked by March 23, 2026, to the Settlement Administrator at:

In re American Addiction Centers, Inc. Data Breach Litigation 
c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC
P.O. Box 5324
New York, NY 10150- 5324 

The short answer is after the Settlement is “finally approved” and challenges, if any, to that approval are finally resolved. The Court is scheduled to hold a Final Approval Hearing on April 20, 2026, at 3:00 p.m. (CT), at the Fred D. Thompson U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building, 719 Church Street, Courtroom 6B, Nashville, Tennessee 37203, to decide whether to approve the Settlement, how much in attorneys’ fees and costs to award Class Counsel for representing the Settlement Class, and whether to approve Service Awards to each of the Class Representatives who brought this Action on behalf of the Settlement Class.

If the Court approves the Settlement, there may be appeals. It is always uncertain whether appeals will be filed and, if so, how long it will take to resolve them. Participating Settlement Class Member Benefits will be distributed as soon as possible, if and when the Court grants Final Approval of the Settlement, and after any appeals are resolved.

Yes, the Court appointed J. Gerard Stranch, IV of Stranch, Jennings & Garvey, PLLC as Class Counsel to represent you and other members of the Settlement Class. You will not be charged directly for this lawyer; instead, he will receive compensation from the Settlement Fund (subject to Court approval).
 

If you want to be represented by your own lawyer, you may hire one at your own expense.

It is not necessary for you to hire your own lawyer because Class Counsel works for you. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer, you may hire one at your own expense.

Class Counsel’s attorneys’ fees and reimbursement of costs will be paid from the Settlement Fund in an amount determined and awarded by the Court. Class Counsel will request no more than one-third (33-1/3%), or $916,666.67, of the Settlement Fund as reasonable attorneys’ fees and as reimbursement of costs. Class Counsel will also ask the Court to approve a $2,000 Service Award payment to each of the Class Representatives for bringing and settling the case. 

If you do not want to receive any benefits from the Settlement, and you want to keep your right to separately sue the Defendant about the legal issues in this case, you must take steps to exclude yourself from the Settlement Class. This is called “opting out” of the Settlement Class. The opt-out deadline to submit a request to exclude yourself from the Settlement Class is March 6, 2026.

To exclude yourself from the Settlement, you must submit a written request for exclusion to the Settlement Administrator that includes the following information:

• A statement indicating that you want to be excluded from the Settlement Class, such as, “I wish to be excluded from the Settlement Class in In re American Addiction Centers, Inc. Data Breach Litigation, No. 3:24-cv-01505”; 
• your name, current address, telephone number, and email address (if any); and
• your signature.

Your request for exclusion must be mailed to the Settlement Administrator at the address below, postmarked no later than March 6, 2026.

In re American Addiction Centers, Inc. Data Breach Litigation
c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC
ATTN: Exclusion Request
P.O. Box 5324
New York, NY 10150-5324

If you are a Participating Settlement Class Member, you can choose (but are not required) to object to the Settlement if you do not like it or a portion of it, whether that be to the Participating Settlement Class Member Benefits, the request for attorneys’ fees and costs, the Service Award payments, the releases provided to Defendant, or some other aspect of the Settlement. Through an objection, you give reasons why you think the Court should not approve the Settlement.

For an objection to be considered by the Court, the objection must include the following: 

1. your full name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address (if any);
2. all grounds for the objection, accompanied by any legal support for the objection known to you or your counsel;
3. the number of times you have objected to a class action settlement within the five years preceding the date that you file your objection, the caption of each case in which you have objected, and a copy of any orders related to or ruling upon your prior objections that were issued by the trial and appellate courts in each listed case;
4. the identity of all counsel who represent you, including any former or current counsel who may be entitled to compensation for any reason related to the objection to the Settlement and/or the Application for Attorneys’ Fees, Costs, and Service Awards, and whether they will appear at the Final Approval Hearing;
5. the number of times in which your counsel and/or the your counsel’s law firm have objected to a class action settlement within the five years preceding the date of the filed objection, the caption of each case in which counsel or the firm has made such objection and a copy of any orders related to or ruling on the objection issued by the trial and appellate courts in each such listed case;
6. a list of all persons who will be called to testify at the Final Approval Hearing in support of the objection (if any);
7. a statement confirming whether the objector intends to personally appear and/or testify at the Final Approval Hearing; and
8. the objector’s signature (an attorney’s signature is not sufficient).

Objections must be filed with the Court and copies must be mailed to Class Counsel, Defendant’s Counsel, and the Settlement Administrator postmarked no later than March 6, 2026.

Objecting is telling the Court that you do not like something about the Settlement. You can object to the Settlement only if you do not exclude yourself from it. Excluding yourself from the Settlement means telling the Court you do not want to be part of the Settlement Class. If you exclude yourself/opt-out of the Settlement, you cannot object to it because the Settlement no longer affects you.

The Court is scheduled to hold a Final Approval Hearing on April 20, 2026, at 3:00 p.m. (CT), at the Fred D. Thompson U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building, 719 Church Street, Courtroom 6B, Nashville, Tennessee 37203, to decide whether to approve the Settlement, Application for Attorneys’ Fees, Costs, and Service Awards to the Class Representatives. The date and time of this hearing may change without further notice. Please check this Settlement Website for updates.

No. Class Counsel will answer any questions the Court may have. You may attend at your own expense. If you file an objection, you may, but you do not have to come to the Final Approval Hearing to talk about it. If you file your written objection on time and in accordance with the requirements listed in question 18, the Court will consider it. You may also pay your own lawyer to attend, but it is not necessary. 

If you are a Participating Settlement Class Member and you do nothing, you will give up your right to start a lawsuit, continue a lawsuit, or be part of any other lawsuit against the Defendant and the Released Parties, as defined in the Settlement Agreement, about the legal issues resolved by this Settlement. In addition, you will be bound by the Releases in the Settlement and not be eligible to receive any Participating Settlement Class Member Benefits.

A copy of the Settlement Agreement can be found on the Documents page of this Settlement Website.

This Settlement Website summarizes the proposed Settlement. Complete details are provided in the Settlement Agreement. The Settlement Agreement and other related documents are available on the Documents page of this Settlement Website.

If you have additional questions or need to update your address, you may contact the Settlement Administrator by calling toll-free (833) 754-8488, click here to contact us, or by mail at: 
 

In re American Addiction Centers, Inc. Data Breach Litigation
c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC
P.O. Box 5324
New York, NY 10150-5324