Frequently Asked Questions

The Court authorized a notice because you have a right to know about the settlement, and all of your options, before the Court decides whether to give “Final Approval” to the settlement. This notice explains the nature of the Litigation that is the subject of the settlement, the general terms of the settlement, and your legal rights and options.

Judge Martin Hoffman of the District Court for Dallas County, Texas is overseeing this case captioned as Vazquez-Alfaro et al. v. Penhall Company, Case No.: DC-24-04993. The people who brought the Litigation are called the “Plaintiff.” The company being sued, Penhall Company (“Penhall”), is called the Defendant.
 

The Litigation alleges on or about December 28, 2022, Penhall was the target of a criminal cyberattack in which third-party criminals gained unauthorized access to Penhall’s network and attempted to encrypt Penhall’s data. Plaintiffs further claim that, as a result of the Ransomware Attack, the criminals gained access to Plaintiffs’ and the Settlement Class Members’ personally identifiable information, including, but not limited to, names, driver’s licenses, dates of birth, and Social Security Numbers (collectively, “PII”).

Defendant denies these claims and says they did nothing wrong. No court or other judicial entity has made any Judgment or other determination that Defendant has done anything wrong.
 

In a class action, one or more people called “Representative Plaintiffs” or “Plaintiffs” sue on behalf of all people who have similar claims. Together, all of these people are called a “Settlement Class,” and the individuals are called “Settlement Class Members.” One court resolves the issues for all Settlement Class Members, except for those who exclude themselves from the Settlement Class.
 

The Court has not decided in favor of the Plaintiffs or Defendant. Instead, both sides agreed to the settlement. The settlement avoids the cost and risk of a trial and related appeals, while providing benefits to Settlement Class Members. The Plaintiff appointed to represent the Settlement Class, and Proposed Settlement Class Counsel (see Question 18) think the settlement is best for all Settlement Class Members.
 

You are affected by the settlement and potentially a Settlement Class Member if you are a Person in the United States to whom Penhall Company mailed a notification that PII may have been impacted in the Ransomware Attack, which was announced on or about December 28, 2022.

Only Settlement Class Members are eligible to receive benefits under the settlement. Specifically excluded from the Settlement Class are: (i) Penhall and its respective officers and directors; (ii) all Settlement Class Members who timely and validly request exclusion from the Settlement Class; (iii) the Judge and Magistrate Judge assigned to evaluate the fairness of this settlement; and (iv) any other Person found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be guilty under criminal law of initiating, causing, aiding, or abetting the Data Ransomware Attack or who pleads nolo contender to any such charge.
 

If you are not sure whether you are included in the settlement, you may call (833) 627-4531 with questions. You may also write with questions to:

Penhall Company Ransomware Attack Settlement

c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC

PO Box 225391

New York, NY 10150-5391

The settlement provides that Defendant will pay: (a) documented loss payments; and (b) credit monitoring for Valid Claims. Payment of attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses (see Question 19), service awards, and the Costs of Claims Administration will also be paid by Defendant. Also, as part of the settlement, Defendant either has undertaken or will undertake certain reasonable steps to further secure its systems and environments.

Settlement Class Members who submit a Valid Claim are eligible to receive:

a) Reimbursement for Documented Loss Payment: 

1. Compensation for Ordinary Losses: All Class Members who submit a Valid Claim using the Claim Form are eligible for the following documented out-of-pocket expenses, not to exceed $500 per Settlement Class Member, upon submission of a claim and supporting documentation, such as the following losses:

• Out of pocket expenses that were incurred as a result of the Ransomware Attack: (i) unreimbursed bank fees; (ii) unreimbursed card reissuance fees; (iii) unreimbursed overdraft fees; (iv) unreimbursed charges related to unavailability of funds; (v) unreimbursed late fees; (vi) unreimbursed over-limit fees; (vii) long distance telephone charges; (viii) cell minutes (if charged by minute), Internet usage charges (if charged by the minute or by the amount of data usage and incurred solely as a result of the Ransomware Attack), and text messages (if charged by the message and incurred solely as a result of the Ransomware Attack); (ix) unreimbursed charges from banks or credit card companies; (x) interest on payday loans due to card cancellation or due to over-limit situation incurred solely as a result of the Ransomware Attack; (xi) costs of credit report(s), credit monitoring, and/or other identity theft insurance products purchased by members of the Settlement Class between December 28, 2022 and the date of the Claims Deadline; and  (xii) other losses incurred by Settlement Class Members determined by the Settlement Administrator to be fairly traceable to the Ransomware Attack, including, but not limited to, the cost of postage and gas for local travel. 

• Compensation for lost time: Settlement Class Members are also eligible to receive up to three (3) hours of lost time spent dealing with issues arising out of the Ransomware Attack (calculated at the rate of $25 per hour).  Settlement Class Members must attest on the Claim Form to the time spent. No documentation other than a description of their actions, provided via checking a box identifying how the time was spent, shall be required for Settlement Class Members to receive compensation for attested time. Claims made for lost time can be combined with claims made for out-of-pocket expenses and, together with the out-of-pocket expenses, are subject to the $500 cap for each Settlement Class Member.

2. Compensation for Extraordinary Losses: All Settlement Class Members who have suffered a proven monetary loss and who submit a Valid Claim using the Claim Form are eligible for up to $10,000 if:

• The loss is an actual, documented, and unreimbursed monetary loss;
• The loss was more likely than not caused by the Ransomware Attack;
• The loss occurred between December 28, 2022, and the Claims Deadline;
• The loss is not already covered by one or more of the normal reimbursement categories; and
• The Settlement Class Member made reasonable efforts to avoid, or seek reimbursement for, the loss, including but not limited to exhaustion of all available credit-monitoring insurance and identity-theft insurance.

b) Credit Monitoring: 

 • All members of the Settlement Class who submit a Valid Claim using the Claim Form are eligible for 12 months of free identity-theft protection, called “Identity Defense Total 3-Bureau Service” (“ID Total”) by Pango (f/k/a Aura).  For Settlement Class Members who opted to receive the one year of credit monitoring initially offered by Penhall, “ID Total” shall be in addition to that year.
 

To receive a settlement benefit, you must complete and submit a Settlement Claim online at the 'Claim Form' page of this Settlement Website, or by mail to PC Ransomware Attack Settlement c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC, PO Box 225391, New York, NY 10150-5391. Read the Claim Form instructions carefully, fill out the Claim Form, provide the required documentation, and submit online by January 10, 2025 or by mail postmarked by January 10, 2025.
 

The Claims Administrator will decide whether and to what extent any claim made on each Claim Form is valid. The Claims Administrator may require additional information from you. If you do not provide the additional information in a timely manner, the claim will be considered invalid and will not be paid.

As proof of class membership, any Settlement Class Members filing an electronic claim must submit the unique identifier provided by the Claims Administrator. If the claimant loses or does not receive a unique identifier, they may call the Claims Administrator, and have their unique identifier issued or re-issued (as the case may be). Also, a potential claimant without a unique identifier may submit a Claim Form for consideration to the Claims Administrator in paper format, found at this Settlement Website. The Claims Administrator is authorized to use standard fraud-prevention techniques in reviewing claims for legitimacy and validity.
 

The Court will hold a hearing on April 4, 2025  at 9 a.m. CST to decide whether to approve the settlement. If the Court approves the settlement, there may be appeals from that decision and resolving them can take time, perhaps more than a year. It also takes time for all of the Claim Forms to be processed. Please be patient.
 

The Released Persons get a release from all claims covered by this settlement. Thus, if the settlement becomes Final and you do not exclude yourself from the settlement, you will be a Settlement Class Member and you will give up your right to sue Penhall and all of its respective past or present parents, subsidiaries, divisions, and related or affiliated entities, and each of their respective predecessors, successors, directors, officers, employees, principals, agents, attorneys, insurers, and reinsurers, and includes, without limitation, any Person related to any such entity who is, was, or could have been named as a defendant in any of the actions in the Litigation, other than any Person who is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be guilty under criminal law of initiating, causing, aiding, or abetting the Ransomware Attack or who pleads nolo contendere to any such charge (the “Related Entities”) for all past, present, and future claims and causes of action including, but not limited to, any causes of action arising under or premised upon any statute, constitution, law, ordinance, treaty, regulation, or common law of any country, state, province, county, city, or municipality, including 15  U.S.C. §§ 45 et seq., and all similar statutes in effect in any states in the United States that were asserted or that could have been asserted that are related in any way to the Ransomware Attack (the “Released Claims”). This release is described in the Settlement Agreement, which is available at this website. If you have any questions, you can talk to the law firms listed in Question 18 for free or you can talk to your own lawyer.
 

No. If you exclude yourself, you will not be entitled to receive any settlement benefits and you will not be bound by any Judgment.
 

No. Unless you exclude yourself, you give up any right to sue any Released Person for the claims that this settlement resolves. You must exclude yourself from the Settlement Class to start your own Litigation or to be part of any different Litigation relating to the claims in this case. If you exclude yourself, do not submit a Claim Form to ask for any benefit under the settlement.
 

To exclude yourself, send a letter that says you want to be excluded from the settlement in Vazquez-Alfaro, et al. v. Penhall Company., Case No.: DC-24-04993. The letter opt-out request must clearly manifest a Person’s intent to opt-out of the Settlement Class. You must mail your opt-out request postmarked by the Opt-Out Date January 10, 2025, to:

Penhall Company Ransomware Attack Settlement

c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC

PO Box 225391

New York, NY 10150-5391

You can tell the Court that you do not agree with the settlement or some part of it by objecting to the settlement. To object, you must mail your objection to the Proposed Settlement Class Counsel, Raina Borrelli of Strauss Borrelli PLLC and counsel for Penhall, Matthew D. Pearson of Baker & Hostetler at the mailing addresses listed below, postmarked by no later than the Objection Date, January 10, 2025:
 

Your objection must be written and must include all of the following: (i) the objector’s full name and address; (ii) the case name and docket number – Vasquez-Alfaro, et al. v. Penhall Company, Case No.: DC-24-04993;  (iii) a written statement of all grounds for the objection, accompanied by any legal support for the objection the objector believes applicable; (iv) the identity of any and all counsel representing the objector in connection with the objection; (v) a statement whether the objector and/or his or her counsel will appear at the Final Fairness Hearing; and (vi) the objector’s signature or the signature of the objector’s duly authorized attorney or other duly authorized representative (if any) representing him or her in connection with the objection.
 

Objecting is telling the Court that you do not like the settlement and why you do not think it should be approved. You can object only if you are a Settlement Class Member. Excluding yourself is telling the Court that you do not want to be part of the Settlement Class and do not want to receive any payment from the settlement. If you exclude yourself, you have no basis to object because you are no longer a Settlement Class Member, and the case no longer affects you. If you submit both a valid objection and a valid request for exclusion, you will be deemed to have only submitted the request to be excluded.
 

Yes. The Court appointed Raina Borrelli of Strauss Borrelli PLLC as Proposed Settlement Class Counsel to represent the Settlement Class in settlement negotiations. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer, you may hire one at your own expense.
 

Proposed Settlement Class Counsel will ask the Court for attorneys’ fees and costs or up to $50,000, plus reasonable expenses not to exceed $3,000. Defendant has agreed to pay any attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses up to those amounts, to the extent approved by the Court. Any such award would compensate Proposed Settlement Class Counsel for investigating the facts, litigating the case, and negotiating the settlement and will be the only payment to them for their efforts in achieving this settlement and for their risk in undertaking this representation on a wholly contingent basis.

Proposed Settlement Class Counsel will also ask the Court for a service award up to $4,000 for each of the Plaintiffs.

Any attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses for Proposed Settlement Class Counsel, and for service awards to the Plaintiffs must be approved by the Court. The Court may award less than the amounts requested. Proposed Settlement Class Counsel’s papers in support of Final Approval of the settlement will be filed no later than December 12, 2024 and their motion for the Fee Award and Costs will be filed no later than December 27, 2024 and will be posted on the Settlement Website.

The Court will hold a Final Fairness Hearing at 9 a.m. CT on April 4, 2025, at the George L. Allen Courts Building, 600 Commerce Street, 5th Floor New Tower, Dallas, Texas 75202, as ordered by the Court. At this hearing, the Court will consider whether the settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate. If there are timely and valid objections, the Court will consider them and will listen to people who have asked to speak at the hearing if such a request has been properly made. The Court will also rule on the request for attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses, as well as the request for service awards for the Plaintiffs. After the hearing, the Court will decide whether to approve the settlement.  We do not know how long these decisions will take. The hearing may be moved to a different date or time without additional notice, so Proposed Settlement Class Counsel recommends checking this Settlement Website or calling (833) 627-4531.
 

No. Proposed Settlement Class Counsel will present the Settlement Agreement to the Court. You or your own lawyer are welcome to attend at your expense, but you are not required to do so. If you send an objection, you do not have to visit the Court to talk about it. As long as you filed your written objection on time with the Court and mailed it according to the instructions provided in Question 16, the Court will consider it.
 

You may ask the Court for permission to speak at the Final Fairness Hearing. To do so, you must file an objection according to the instructions in Question 16, including all the information required. Your objection and notice of intent to appear must be mailed to the Proposed Settlement Class Counsel and counsel for Penhall, postmarked no later than January 10, 2025.
 

If you do nothing, you will not get any money from this settlement. If the settlement is granted Final approval and the settlement becomes Final, you will not be able to start a Litigation, continue with a Litigation, or be part of any other Litigation against Defendant or the other Related Entities based on any of the Released Claims.
 

This Settlement Website summarizes the settlement. More details are in the Settlement Agreement itself.  A copy of the Settlement Agreement is available in the documents section of this website. You may also call or email the Claims Administrator with questions or to receive a Claim Form at (833) 627-4531.