11 months ago
University of Michigan 'immune' from Matt Weiss hacking scandal, university lawyers say
The University of Michigan and its leaders are immune from claims by at least two women who have filed lawsuits alleging their personal data was hacked by former University of Michigan co-offensive coordinator Matt Weiss, according to a federal court filing Tuesday.
Lawyers for UM and its Board of Regents wrote that they expect to ask U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith to dismiss the lawsuit because immunity bars virtually all of the claims against the university. The court filing offers the first look at how UM plans to fight a widening scandal involving a high-profile former member of ex-football coach Jim Harbaugh's staff and legal challenges from more than 60 women — a number that is expected to balloon in the coming weeks.
UM lawyers Daniel Tukel and Sheldon Klein made that argument while responding to a request from the women's lawyers who want the judge to force UM to provide documents and other details in the early stages of the civil case. The information is being sought by the women, former members of UM's gymnastics and soccer teams, in hopes of discovering how they were victimized in the data breach and learning the details about any internal investigations and security protocols imposed by UM.
The lawsuit is one of eight filed in the month since Weiss was charged in federal court and accused of hacking into the personal accounts of thousands of college athletes and stealing candid photos and videos. That includes some showing college students engaged in explicit sexual acts, according to the government.
The women said they need expedited discovery to mitigate harm caused by the data breach and learn what happened to their personal information.
"First, there is no indication that there has been or is likely to be any ongoing or future harm," Tukel and Klein wrote, noting that at least one of the women was notified of the data breach more than two years ago.
"There is no claim that plaintiffs have had banking, credit or other similar issues during the more than two years after Weiss was discharged and the notification letter was received," the lawyers added.
An attorney for the women attacked UM's legal response.
"This is a deeply disappointing — yet sadly unsurprising — response from an institution that has, time and time again, chosen to protect itself instead of the students it is entrusted to serve," Parker Stinar, a lawyer for the women, wrote in a Tuesday email to The Detroit News.
The university offered victims free identity theft protection after learning about the data breach, Tukel and Klein noted. One of the women suing UM did not accept the offer.
"The claim that a concern regarding ongoing or future harm is sufficiently significant to warrant expedited discovery is inconsistent with a failure to accept the offer of protection from precisely that potential type of harm," the lawyers wrote.
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Tukel and Klein characterized the women's request for expedited discovery as, among other things, premature.
"Defendants should not be required to shoulder such a significant burden of litigation prior to the court determining whether plaintiffs’ claims can withstand the immunity defense," the lawyers wrote.
Tukel and Klein added that virtually all of the claims against UM are barred by, among other defenses, immunity under the 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The amendment limits lawsuits against states and persons in federal court.
Governmental immunity is not a license for negligence, Stinar wrote to The News.
"It is not a shield for institutions that knowingly empower or fail to supervise employees who violate the trust and privacy of thousands of current and former female student-athletes," Stinar wrote. "The university’s attempt to sidestep accountability by hiding behind legal technicalities speaks volumes about its priorities — and none of them center student safety or justice."
"Instead of taking full responsibility and working transparently to make things right, the University of Michigan has once again chosen institutional preservation over doing the right thing," Stinar added. "The university must be reminded that it cannot claim to empower student-athletes while turning a blind eye to their harm."
According to the government, Weiss downloaded the personal information and medical data of more than 150,000 athletes nationwide and used that information to obtain access to the social media, email and cloud storage accounts of more than 3,000 athletes.
That included Weiss accessing databases of more than 100 colleges and universities, including UM, which Weiss is accused of hacking, that were maintained by Keffer Development Services, a Pennsylvania-based firm headed by CEO Rhett Keffer.
The government alleges Weiss hacked the databases by compromising the passwords of accounts belonging to trainers and athletic directors.
rsnell@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: University of Michigan 'immune' from Matt Weiss hacking scandal, university lawyers say
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