Girard Gibbs LLP Announces Class Action Lawsuit Against Certegy.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The law firm of Girard Gibbs LLP (www.girardgibbs.com) has filed a class action complaint on behalf of approximately 8.5 million consumers nationwide whose financial and personal data was stolen by an employee of Certegy Check Services, Inc. and Fidelity National Information Services, Inc (NYSE:FIS) and released to unauthorized third parties. The complaint alleges that a senior database administrator misappropriated the confidential information of millions of consumers and then sold the data to direct marketing firms and data brokers who may have resold it to others.

"Certegy and FIS had a duty to safeguard the confidential data of consumers from any breach, including that of their employees. Once the internal breach became known, it should have been communicated to the public in a timely and adequate manner," said Eric Gibbs, one of the attorneys for the plaintiff. "The failure by these companies to make the internal data breach immediately known exposed consumers to direct marketing campaigns and the risk of unauthorized use of their bank accounts and identity theft."

The case was brought by a Los Angeles, California resident who, prior to the public announcement by Certegy and FIS of the data breach, started noticing an influx of direct marketing and promotional offers as well as phone calls to his home. After subsequently receiving a letter from Certegy informing him that his personal data may have been compromised by one of its employees, the plaintiff engaged a credit monitoring service.

Certegy and FIS merged in January of 2006. Certegy provides check-verification services to major U.S. retailers such as Wal-Mart, Sears, Bed Bath & Beyond and Amazon.com. Due to the nature of the services provided by Certegy and FIS, and their undisclosed role in financial transactions, consumers do not choose to use the services of these companies but rather are forced to do so.

The complaint alleges that Certegy and FIS failed to implement and maintain adequate security measures to protect consumers' confidential financial and personal information. Their failure to properly monitor and supervise their employee subjected consumers to risk of data theft and other fraudulent actions.

The class action lawsuit was filed in federal district court for the Central District of California on August 14, 2007. It asserts claims of negligence, invasion of privacy and breach of implied contract.

Girard Gibbs LLP is one of the nation's leading firms in prosecuting class actions and other lawsuits involving consumer fraud. For more information about this case, please contact Girard Gibbs LLP toll-free at [phone] or through our website www.girardgibbs.com.