Published
September 25, 2026
Approved claimants in the $8.7 million Sequoia Benefits and Insurance data breach settlement were sent payments on August 31, 2026, over the 2022 breach of Sequoia One PEO client data. Claims closed March 11, 2026, and uncashed checks become void after November 30, 2026.
Current Status
Payments are in progress. The settlement website says every submitted claim has been reviewed and payments for approved claims were issued on August 31, 2026. Any uncashed settlement check becomes void after Monday, November 30, 2026.Claims are closed. The deadline was March 11, 2026, for online claims and for paper claim forms by postmark. Judge Rita F. Lin of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted final approval on June 2, 2026, in In re: Sequoia Benefits and Insurance Data Breach Litigation, No. 3:22-cv-08217-RFL.
Anyone who filed and was approved should already have been paid or should look for the payment now. Anyone who did not file cannot be paid from this settlement.
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Status
Payments in Progress
Payments issued August 31, 2026 · final approval granted June 2, 2026
Cash Your Check By
November 30, 2026
Uncashed checks become void after this date
Settlement Fund
$8.7 Million
About 584,109 people in the class · about 210,673 in the California Subclass
Can I Claim?
No — Claims Closed March 11, 2026
What Changed
The settlement administrator, Kroll Settlement Administration, finished reviewing claims and issued payments on August 31, 2026. That date lines up with the final approval order, which requires payments to class members within 60 days of the settlement's effective date.The settlement website's payment update does not state what approved claimants received. The amounts in the class notice were estimates, so the checks can differ from them.
Which Sequoia This Is
The defendants are Sequoia Benefits & Insurance Services, LLC and Sequoia One PEO, LLC. Sequoia One is a professional employer organization that ran HR, payroll and benefits for client companies. Neither is the venture capital firm Sequoia Capital.Sequoia said an unauthorized party may have accessed a cloud storage system holding personal information between September 22 and October 6, 2022. TechCrunch reported in December 2022 that the system held names, home addresses, dates of birth, gender, marital status, employment status, Social Security numbers and COVID-19 test results and vaccine cards. Sequoia told TechCrunch its forensic investigation found no evidence the data was misused or distributed.
The first class action was filed in San Francisco federal court on December 12, 2022, and later cases were consolidated with it. Plaintiffs alleged Sequoia did not use reasonable security to protect the information. The settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing, and the court never decided whether Sequoia was at fault.
Who Was in the Class
The nationwide class is everyone in the United States on Sequoia's list of people whose information was compromised in the incident. The final approval order puts the class at about 584,109 people.A California Subclass covers people on that list who lived in California at the time of the incident, about 210,673 people. Subclass members were eligible for an extra payment on top of whichever cash option they chose.
What the Settlement Paid For
Class members who filed a claim chose between two cash options:- Reimbursement of money or time spent dealing with the breach, up to $7,500 per person, with the amount depending on what the claimant lost and the records they could provide.
- A cash payment estimated at $75 with no documentation of losses.
California Subclass members who filed under either option were eligible for an additional payment, estimated at $150, reflecting claims under California privacy law. Bloomberg Law reported at preliminary approval that the deal averaged about $75 per class member, or $225 for California residents, and that Sequoia also agreed to adopt data security practices that were not made public.
Before class members were paid, the court awarded Class Counsel $2,175,000 in attorneys' fees, which is 25% of the fund, plus $46,107.88 in litigation costs. Each class representative received a $3,500 service award. Administration costs also come out of the fund. Four class members objected, and the court overruled every objection.
If You Filed a Claim
Look for a payment issued on or shortly after August 31, 2026. A paper check has to be deposited or cashed by November 30, 2026, or it becomes void. If an approved payment never arrived or a check was lost, contact the administrator through the contact page on the official Sequoia Data Settlement website before the void date. The reissued settlement check guide explains how replacement checks generally work.A claim that was denied or reduced would have been reviewed before payments went out. The settlement website is the place to ask about a specific claim.
What Happens Next
Nothing is left for class members to file. After checks go stale, Class Counsel must file a post-distribution accounting with the court within 21 days, and 10% of the fee award is held back in the fund until that accounting is filed.No leftover money goes back to Sequoia. The preliminary approval order says the parties will confer on any residual funds, including a possible second distribution to class members, and must ask the court to approve any plan other than a pro rata second distribution if more than $1,000 remains. No second distribution had been announced as of September 25, 2026.
Questions
Which Sequoia is this settlement about?
The defendants are Sequoia Benefits & Insurance Services, LLC and Sequoia One PEO, LLC, a benefits broker and a professional employer organization that handled HR, payroll and benefits for client companies. It is not the venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, and it has nothing to do with the Toyota Sequoia.
I never filed a claim. Can I still get money?
No. Payment required a claim form submitted online or postmarked by March 11, 2026, and the court's orders bar class members who did not file from receiving a benefit. Class members who did not opt out are still bound by the settlement's release.
Why is my payment different from the $75 or $150 in the notice?
The notice figures were estimates. The cash payment and the California payment are paid from what is left of the $8.7 million fund after fees, costs, service awards, administration and documented-loss claims, divided among approved claimants, so the final amount depends on how many people filed. See pro rata distribution.
What happens to money from checks nobody cashes?
None of it goes back to Sequoia. The preliminary approval order says the parties will confer on leftover funds, including a possible second distribution to class members, and any plan other than a pro rata second distribution of more than $1,000 must go to the court for approval.
Sources
- Sequoia Data Settlement — official settlement website (payment update, claim deadline, benefit options)
- Order Granting Final Approval of Class Action Settlement (June 2, 2026)
- Order Granting Preliminary Approval of Class Action Settlement (September 10, 2025)
- Original class action complaint (December 12, 2022)
- Bloomberg Law — Sequoia Gets Approval for $8.7 Million Data Breach Settlement
- TechCrunch — HR platform Sequoia says hackers accessed customer SSNs and COVID-19 data
This page is informational and is not legal advice.
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Status
Payments in Progress — issued August 31, 2026
Settlement Amount
$8.7 million
Case Title
In re: Sequoia Benefits and Insurance Data Breach Litigation
Case Number
3:22-cv-08217-RFL
Court
U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
Date Filed
December 12, 2022
Final Approval
June 2, 2026 (Judge Rita F. Lin)
Claim Deadline
March 11, 2026 (closed)
Administrator
Kroll Settlement Administration LLC
Official Website
Sequoia Data Settlement.com
