SAN FRANCISCO - A class action lawsuit against Gap. Inc., alleging that personal information and social security numbers of 800,000 job applicants were compromised, will proceed, a district court judge ruled on Monday, March 24, 2008.

Gap sought to dismiss the entire case, arguing that the Plaintiff Joel Ruiz failed to show he had suffered harm, among other things.  Senior Judge Samuel Conti of the Northern District of California held that Ruiz could proceed on his claims for negligence and violation of California Civil Code section 1798.85. 

In September 2007, Gap Inc. announced that two laptop computers had been stolen from the offices of a third-party vendor Gap had used to manage its job applicant data. The laptops contained the personal information of approximately 800,000 persons who applied for employment with Gap, Old Navy, and Banana Republic online through use of Gap's application between July 2006 and June 2007. 

The 800,000 applicants whose personal information was compromised reside throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada.  Gap's application stated that it would use "reasonable precautions to protect" the job applicants' personal information.  It is believed that personal information of the job applicants was subject to access and viewing without a password or authentication code.

Burton Finkelstein of Finkelstein Thompson LLP, Plaintiff's counsel, stated, "We are pleased that the case is moving forward and will continue our vigorous prosecution of the litigation. The 800,000 job applicants' personal information, including social security numbers, being disclosed is of serious concern."

If you have been contacted by Gap regarding this data breach and wish to discuss your rights and interests in this matter, please contact our Washington, D.C. office toll-free at (877) 337-1050.