People EyeCare Partners notified that their information may have been exposed in its December 2024 to January 2025 data incident may qualify to claim a flat $50 or up to $3,000 in documented losses from the EyeCare Partners data breach class action settlement. Claims are open through January 26, 2027, and the final approval hearing is set for March 23, 2027.
Current Status
Claims are open. The deadline to file is January 26, 2027: claims filed online must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Eastern time that day, and paper claims must be postmarked by that date. The Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri granted preliminary approval on September 28, 2026, and the final approval hearing is set for March 23, 2027. No payments have been made, and none will be until the Court grants final approval and any appeals are resolved.Free settlement alerts
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What Changed Recently?
The settlement is newly open to claims. EyeCare Partners, LLC agreed to settle Staley, et al. v. EyeCare Partners, LLC, No. 2616-CV29473, in the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri, and Judge Jessica Agnelly preliminarily approved it on September 28, 2026. Atticus Administration, the court-appointed settlement administrator, has mailed notices and opened the claim portal on the official settlement website.The case concerns a cybersecurity incident that, according to the settlement agreement, ran from December 3, 2024 to January 28, 2025, when an unauthorized actor accessed EyeCare Partners’ network and systems. The company says it learned of the incident on or about January 28, 2025. Its investigation found that names, contact information, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, driver’s license or other government ID numbers, health plan information and limited clinical information of about 17,575 people were potentially affected. EyeCare Partners began mailing notices to those people on February 3, 2026, a little over a year after it discovered the incident.
Class actions were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri beginning in February 2026 and consolidated in April. After the parties began settlement talks, the plaintiffs dismissed the federal cases and refiled in Jackson County on August 24, 2026, alleging negligence, negligence per se, unjust enrichment, breach of implied contract, breach of fiduciary duty and violations of the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act. EyeCare Partners denies the claims and any wrongdoing or liability, and the Court has not decided who is right.
Who Qualifies?
The settlement class is all individuals who received direct notice that their private information may have been compromised in the EyeCare Partners data incident. Directors and officers of EyeCare Partners, government entities, and the judge assigned to the case, the judge’s immediate family and court staff are excluded.Because the class is limited to people who received direct notice, the mailed notice is the practical test of membership: it carries both the Notice ID needed to file and the code for the free medical monitoring.
How Much Can You Get?
Each class member who files a valid claim chooses one of two cash options:- Documented out-of-pocket losses, up to $3,000. Reimbursement of unreimbursed costs that are reasonably traceable to the data incident and were incurred between the incident and the January 26, 2027 claim deadline. The settlement lists costs for fraud or identity protection, professional fees and credit repair services among the eligible expenses. Documentation is required for each loss.
- A flat $50 alternative cash payment. No documentation is required.
In addition, every class member is offered a one-year membership in CyEx Medical Monitoring, with no claim form required. The activation code is printed on the mailed notice.
The settlement does not set a total fund. The agreement provides fixed per-person benefits paid by EyeCare Partners, with no overall cap on cash payments and no pro rata reduction, so the $50 figure is a fixed amount rather than an estimate. Attorneys’ fees and costs, which class counsel will ask to be capped at $150,000, the class representatives’ service awards and administration costs are paid separately, subject to court approval, and do not reduce class members’ benefits.
What Proof or Notice ID Is Required?
The claim form asks for the Notice ID printed above the class member’s name and address on the mailed notice, both on the online claim portal, which also asks for the claimant’s last name, and on the paper claim form. That makes this a Proof Required settlement even for the $50 option, which needs no receipts.Claims for documented losses also need receipts or other records showing each expense. Under the agreement, a documented-loss claim that is rejected for lack of documentation, and not fixed after the administrator’s deficiency notice, is converted to a claim for the $50 payment. A class member who has lost the notice can reach the settlement administrator through the contact options on the official settlement website, which the agreement requires to help class members determine their class member ID.
What Is the Deadline?
Claims are due January 26, 2027. Under the settlement agreement, a claim filed online must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on that date, and a claim sent by mail must be postmarked by that date.Requests to be excluded from the settlement and objections to it are due February 22, 2027. Class members who do not exclude themselves give up the right to sue EyeCare Partners and the other released parties over the data incident, whether or not they file a claim.
How Do You Take Action?
Claims are filed through the claim form login on the official EyeCare Partners settlement website, which asks for the Notice ID and the claimant’s last name before opening the form. A paper claim form can also be downloaded from the settlement website and returned to the administrator by the deadline. The year of medical monitoring is activated separately through CyEx with the activation code on the notice, and does not depend on filing a claim.What Happens Next?
The Court will hold the final approval hearing on March 23, 2027 at 8:30 a.m. at the Jackson County Courthouse in Independence, Missouri, where it will decide whether the settlement is fair, reasonable and adequate and rule on class counsel’s request for fees, costs and service awards. Class counsel must file the motion for final approval at least 45 days before the hearing.If the Court approves the settlement, the notice says valid claims will be paid within 75 days of the settlement’s effective date, or within 30 days after a claim is approved, whichever is later. The effective date comes 30 days after the final approval order if no one appeals, and later if there is an appeal. Settlement checks expire 90 days after they are issued. No payment date had been announced as of November 9, 2026.
Sources and Verification
• Official settlement website — EyeCare Partners Settlement, including its Important Dates, FAQ and claim form login pages• Long Form Notice of Proposed Class Action Settlement (PDF) on the official settlement website
• Order Preliminarily Approving Class Action Settlement, Staley, et al. v. EyeCare Partners, LLC, No. 2616-CV29473 (Cir. Ct. Jackson Cnty., Mo. Sept. 28, 2026)
• Settlement Agreement, Staley, et al. v. EyeCare Partners, LLC, posted on the official settlement website’s Settlement Documents page
Questions
Why would a patient who never heard of EyeCare Partners be in this settlement?
EyeCare Partners, LLC is a Missouri-based eye care company whose network of optometry and ophthalmology practices often operates under local practice names, so patients may know their eye doctor by a different name. The settlement class is defined by who received EyeCare Partners’ data incident notice, not by the name on the practice’s sign. The settlement covers about 17,575 people, according to the settlement agreement.
Do class members have to file a claim to get the medical monitoring?
No. Every settlement class member is offered one year of CyEx Medical Monitoring without filing a claim. The activation code is printed on the notice the administrator mailed, and enrollment runs through CyEx using that code. The monitoring is separate from, and in addition to, the $50 or documented-loss cash payment, which does require a claim.
What happens if a documented-loss claim is rejected?
Under the settlement agreement, a claim for out-of-pocket losses that lacks acceptable documentation, and is not cured after the administrator sends a notice of deficiency, is automatically treated as a claim for the $50 alternative cash payment, as long as the claim form was otherwise valid, signed and on time. Claimants get until the claim deadline, or 15 days after a deficiency notice, whichever is later, to fix a defect.
Can a class member claim both the $50 payment and documented losses?
No. The agreement requires each claimant to choose one cash option: reimbursement of documented out-of-pocket losses up to $3,000, or the flat $50 alternative cash payment. The year of medical monitoring is available on top of either option.
Do attorneys’ fees reduce the payments to class members?
No. There is no common fund that fees come out of. According to the court-approved notice, class counsel will ask for attorneys’ fees and costs of no more than $150,000 and service awards of up to $2,000 for each of the two class representatives, and EyeCare Partners pays those amounts, plus notice and administration costs, separately from the benefits to class members, subject to the Court’s approval.
