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Happy State Bank Corporation Data Breach

Posted on behalf of Arnold Law Firm in
NOTICE: If you received a NOTICE OF DATA BREACH letter from Happy State Bank, a division of Centennial Bank, contact the Arnold Law Firm at 916-777-7777 to discuss your legal options, or submit a confidential Case Evaluation form here.
Happy Bank Data Breach On or about March 16, 2023 and on April 27, 2023, Happy State Bank (“Happy Bank”) sent a Notice of Data Breach Letter (“Breach Letter”) to individuals, including customers and potentially employees, former employees, and their dependents. The Breach Letter informed victims that their personally identifiable information (“PII”) was exposed when Happy Bank claims an employee was the subject of a phishing email scam which resulted in their email account being “Accessed without authorization” (“data breach”). According to the Breach Letter, Happy Bank investigated the Data Breach and determined that, between July 28th and 29th, 2022, one employee’s email was the subject of a phishing email scam that resulted in its being accessed without authorization. While Happy Bank claims it cannot determine whether PII was accessed, the PII available to the hackers in that email account consists of, including, but not limited to: name, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and financial account information. Happy Bank discovered the Data Breach on July 29, 2022. It waited until March 16th and April 27th, 2023 to send Breach Letters to victims. Happy Bank, now a division of Centennial Bank is a regional state bank and is based in Amarillo, Texas. It has over 60 locations in more than 40 communities and, as a division of Centennial Bank, is part of a bank organization with over $25 billion in assets. The data of over 17,317 individuals was compromised by this data breach. If you received a Breach Letter from Happy Bank or any of its related entities, you were impacted by the data breach. Happy Bank has offered victims one-year of credit monitoring through Equifax.

WHAT INFORMATION IS INVOLVED?

According to Happy Bank, the following information was exposed:
  • Names
  • Social Security numbers
  • Dates of birth
  • Financial account information
This information is called your Personally Identifiable Information (“PII”). It tells others about you and is considered part of your identity. Businesses are required to secure this information or risk facing statutory penalties, among other legal penalties. Stolen PII can be used by identity thieves to engage in fraudulent activity using your identity. The best way to protect yourself after a data breach is to sign up for credit and identity protection services as soon as possible. California offers extra protections and legal rights to its residents through the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”).

NOTICE: If you received a NOTICE OF DATA BREACH letter from Happy Bank, contact the Arnold Law Firm at 916-777-7777 to discuss your legal options, or submit a confidential Case Evaluation form here.

Settlement - $3,767,000

Truck Accident

A 20-year-old man who had been married for just 12 days left home on his way to work. He was driving on Pleasant Grove Road in Sutter County in the early morning when he came upon a slow-moving truck. As he pulled out to pass the truck, the truck driver turned left in front of him. The young man attempted to steer back into his lane but his vehicle struck an un-flagged piece of metal extending from the back of the truck. He died in the resulting crash.

Expert witnesses brought in by the Arnold Law Firm proved that the truck, owned and operated by a hauling firm, should never have been on the highway that morning. Specifically, the rear and side turn signals did not work and the rear-view mirror was in a poor state of adjustment at the time of the collision. As a result, the driver, who had failed to properly inspect the vehicle before setting out that morning, couldn’t see the young man’s vehicle as it attempted to pass.

The poor condition of the truck, its lack of maintenance and the manner in which it was operated were found to be substantial factors in causing the collision that killed the young man. The testimony also established that the man had been making a lawful pass at the lawful speed limit and acted reasonably when he attempted to avoid the collision.

The man’s 20-year-old widow was awarded $3,767,000.77, his parents were awarded $185,131 and the family was reimbursed $11,899 in funeral expenses. Though money is a poor substitute for a young man’s life, this verdict demonstrates that drivers who endanger the lives of others will be held accountable for their actions.