A Clark County woman has filed a class-action lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Nevada against local casino giant Station Casinos after the company revealed it was the victim of a cyber security attack in March.
Susan Geiner filed the lawsuit individually and on behalf of others in similar vein on Thursday, shortly after the incident first became public.
The lawsuit names Red Rock Resorts Inc., the parent company of subsidiaries Station Holdco LLC and Station Casinos LLC, as defendants.
Station representatives acknowledged the data breach in an email Monday.
The company also sent notices to loyal customers about the breach and has offered to provide credit monitoring services and identity theft protection to individual customers at no charge.
Geiner’s lawsuit, filed as a potential class action by Las Vegas-based Freedom Law Firm and Ahdoot & Wolfson of King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, says Station Casinos should have known it was a potential target for cybercriminals and should have done more to protect its data from hackers.
“The hospitality and gaming industries are prime targets for ransomware attacks like this one because these organizations store large amounts of sensitive data, including (social security numbers), financial information and personal identification details,” the lawsuit states. “This data is incredibly valuable on the black market, where it can be sold for purposes such as identity theft and fraud. The high demand for this data makes hotels and casinos a lucrative target for cybercriminals.”
The lawsuit also says the company’s computer systems should have been better protected.
“The fact that the hackers were able to conduct these open, noisy operations without detection strongly suggests that Defendants failed to implement and maintain the necessary monitoring and alerting systems, including endpoint detection and response tools, sufficient to quickly identify malicious activity and enable Defendants’ cybersecurity personnel to stop or contain the attack,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit seeks a jury trial and adds that the plaintiff seeks “appropriate monetary relief, including actual damages, statutory damages, equitable relief, restitution, disgorgement and statutory costs.”
It also seeks an injunction requiring Station to pay the costs of notifying potential class members of the judgment and administering the claims process.
The lawsuit also seeks prejudgment and post-judgment interest, reasonable attorneys’ fees, costs and expenses and “such other relief as this court may deem just and proper.”
The station, which has also notified regulators about the cyber attack, has said it will not make any other comment beyond the statement it issued earlier this week.
Station is the fifth major Nevada casino company to fall victim to a cyberattack in nearly three years.
Before the station attack in March, Wynn Resorts Ltd. was attacked. properties in October, but disclosed it in February; other locals casino operator Boyd Gaming Corp. was attacked in September; MGM Resorts International was attacked in September 2023; and Caesars Entertainment Inc. hit in August 2023.
In the MGM case, the company settled two class-action lawsuits for $45 million in the wake of the attack, and insurance companies paid for the estimated $100 million in damages to the company.
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