The Importance Of Cybersecurity During A Merger & Acquisition Transaction
On May 21, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) finalized a consent order with GoDaddy to settle allegations that the web hosting company misled customers and failed to implement basic data security protections. Although...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a complaint and proposed consent order against Marriott International Inc. and its subsidiary, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide LLC, on October 9, 2024, concerning three alleged...more
Our Consumer Protection/FTC and Privacy, Cyber & Data Strategy teams unpack Starwood Hotels’ and Marriott International’s settlements with the Federal Trade Commission and Marriott’s settlement with state attorneys general...more
Enforcement of data privacy laws across the US is in full force. Most recently, Marriott agreed to a $52 million settlement payment to 50 states, including $3.5 million to the State of Texas, following a data breach of 131...more
A federal court in Maryland recently granted a motion for class certification by consumers who brought negligence, breach of contract, and consumer protection claims against hotel franchisor Marriott International and data...more
On April 21, 2022, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed the dismissal by the United States District Court for the District of Maryland of allegations that Marriott International had violated...more
The Fourth Circuit dismissed an investor’s lawsuit against a hotel chain that had been subject to a data breach, ruling that the company had not made false or misleading public statements about its protection of customer...more
Investors filed a derivative suit claiming that the company knew about, and failed to mitigate known, existing cybersecurity risks and shortfalls prior to the security breach. In early November, pension funds and...more
Delaware Court of Chancery Dismisses Marriott Data Breach Derivative Suit; DOJ Announces Creation of National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team; Fifth Circuit Applies New Standard for Disgorgement Orders In Securities Cases to...more
In what appears to be a growing trend, another federal district court has dismissed a data breach case for lack of standing. In Springmeyer et al. v. Marriott International, Inc., 2021 WL 809894 (D. Md.), Plaintiffs, former...more
The question of standing has proven to be a tricky one in data breach litigation. Last week a federal district court in Maryland rejected a proposed class action brought by Marriott guests related to a data breach suffered by...more
After the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) took effect on January 1, 2020, a surge of class action lawsuits predicated on alleged CCPA violations hit businesses. Because of the act’s novelty, it was unclear whether...more
Marriott recently won dismissal of a proposed class action data breach lawsuit alleging several violations, including a violation of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). The case, Arifur Rahman v. Marriott...more
On January 12, 2021, the federal District Court for the Central District of California dismissed a data breach law suit—including a claim filed under the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”)—against Marriott...more
CEP Magazine (January 2021) - After extended investigations and negotiations, the United Kingdom’s Information Commissioner’s Office levied a fine of £18.4 million against Marriott International Inc. for a data breach...more
Hot on the heels of the £20 million fine issued to British Airways, the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO“) has issued Marriott International Inc. (“Marriott“) with a long-awaited penalty notice for its failure to...more
Few will have been surprised that, when the ICO eventually published details of the BA and Marriott fines, the final penalties were very much lower than the £183+ million and £99+ million proposed in the original notices of...more
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) has been extended until March 2021 (meaning the Job Support Scheme did not begin on 1 November) – the government had earlier announced that the CJRS would be extended by a month,...more
On 30 October 2020, the UK’s data privacy regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) issued a final penalty notice (Penalty Notice) to fine the hotel chain Marriott International, Inc. (Marriott) for a GDPR data...more
The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has recently handed down two of the largest fines relating to a data breach in UK history. In August 2018, British Airways (BA) was subject to a cyberattack which breached the...more
On Oct. 30, 2020, the United Kingdom’s data protection authority, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), in connection with France’s Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés (CNIL), announced the largest...more
Below is a summary of recent developments for the Food, Beverage and Hospitality industry in terms of Internet laws and regulations. Consumer Privacy and the CCPA - In June 2018, California enacted one of the most...more
On February 21, the District of Maryland held that consumers had standing to assert claims arising from the historic data breach that hit Marriott in 2018, but the court dismissed the plaintiffs’ claim for negligence under...more
Markets closed down on Tuesday, a fitting conclusion to the worst month on Wall Street since October 2008 that was marked by wild volatility and record-setting point drops....more
The decision to appeal a regulatory finding is never taken lightly. By the time a regulator has completed its investigation and notified a company of its intention to fine, the company will have invested significant time and...more