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The
attorney general, Patrick Morrisey, said he filed the lawsuit in
Boone County Circuit Court. It was the second lawsuit filed by a
state attorney general since Equifax disclosed the breach in
September.
"Equifax's failure to secure consumers' personal information
constitutes a shocking betrayal of public trust and an egregious
violation of West Virginia consumer protection and data privacy
laws," Morrisey said in a statement.
Equifax did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Equifax also faces class action lawsuits and investigations by
the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and various state attorneys
general over the data breach.
A judge in Massachusetts earlier this month rejected Equifax's
motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by that state's attorney
general, Maura Healey.
The West Virginia lawsuit accused Equifax of taking no action to
secure its online dispute portal despite prior warnings of
vulnerability within its framework and of failing to recognize
that hackers had penetrated its system from May 2017 to July
2017.
Morrisey's office said the breach exposed the data of more than
730,000 West Virginian residents. The lawsuit seeks $150,000 for
each security breach and $5,000 for each violation of the
state's Consumer Credit and Protection Act.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Steve Orlofsky
and Leslie Adler)
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