Published
September 14, 2026
People notified that their information was involved in the June 2024 data incident at Wayne Memorial Hospital may qualify to claim an estimated $25 in cash, or up to $5,000 for documented losses, from the Wayne Memorial Hospital data breach class action settlement. Claims close December 7, 2026.
Current Status
Claims are open. The deadline to file, online or by mail, is December 7, 2026, and the notice does not specify a timezone. The deadline to exclude yourself or object is November 7, 2026. The final approval hearing is scheduled for January 27, 2027 at 1:30 p.m. ET in the Superior Court of Wayne County, Georgia, and the court has not ruled on final approval. No payment date has been announced. Class members who want cash have to file a claim; credit monitoring is the one benefit that arrives without filing.Free settlement alerts
Get notified when new class actions open to claims
Join thousands of readers who get the latest class action settlements you may qualify for — delivered straight to your inbox.
Status
Claims Open
Claim Deadline
December 7, 2026
Online or postmarked · no timezone stated in the notice
Estimated Payout
$25 or up to $5,000
Estimated $25 Alternate Cash, capped at $300,000 class-wide, or documented losses instead · plus 2 years of credit monitoring
Proof Required
Yes
CPT ID and Passcode from the notice to file online · documentation also required for the $5,000 tier
What Changed Recently?
The claim process opened under a proposed settlement in Bates, et al. v. Wayne Memorial Hospital Auxiliary, Inc. d/b/a Wayne Memorial Hospital, No. SUCV2025000239, in the Superior Court of Wayne County, Georgia. The hospital discovered the incident on or around June 3, 2024, determined that an unauthorized party had access to its network from approximately May 30 to June 3, 2024, and began sending notification letters on or around August 27, 2025. Separate proposed class actions followed, were consolidated before this court, and the parties reached terms after a mediation in May 2026.The complaint alleges the hospital was negligent or otherwise responsible for failing to prevent the incident, and pleads negligence, breach of implied contract and unjust enrichment. The hospital denies the allegations, and the settlement was reached without any admission of wrongdoing. No court has found that the hospital did anything unlawful.
Who Qualifies?
The Settlement Class is everyone whose private information was accessible because of the data incident discovered on or around June 3, 2024. In practice, that is the group the hospital sent notice to beginning in August 2025 — the settlement agreement describes files containing the private information of approximately 163,440 individuals.The class excludes the hospital's directors and officers, governmental entities, the judge assigned to the case together with the judge's immediate family and court staff, and anyone who opts out of the settlement in time.
How Much Can You Get?
The settlement offers two cash options that are alternatives to each other, plus credit monitoring that does not depend on which cash option is chosen.Cash Payment A covers documented losses up to $5,000 per class member for out-of-pocket losses tied to fraud or identity theft. The notice sets four conditions: the loss has to be an actual, documented and unreimbursed monetary loss; it has to be more likely than not caused by the incident; it has to have been incurred on or after the date of the incident; and the class member has to have made reasonable but unsuccessful efforts to avoid the loss or to get it reimbursed elsewhere. Losses already reimbursed from another source, including through a credit monitoring or identity protection product, are not payable again.
Cash Payment B is the Alternate Cash option — an estimated $25 with no documentation at all. That figure is an estimate, not a fixed amount: Alternate Cash awards cannot exceed a $300,000 Settlement Cap, and if claims pass the cap every Alternate Cash award is reduced pro rata until it no longer does.
Credit monitoring is separate. Every class member is entitled to enroll in two years of single-bureau credit monitoring that includes $1,000,000 of identity theft insurance, using an enrollment code sent with the notice. The code becomes effective after final approval, and enrolling does not require filing a claim.
The notice does not state a total settlement fund. Cash payments, credit monitoring, administration costs and any court-awarded fees and service awards are to be paid by, or on behalf of, the hospital. Class counsel intend to ask the court for fees and costs of up to $525,000, and for service awards of up to $2,500 for each of the seven class representatives, or up to $17,500 in total. The court can award less.
What Proof or Notice ID Is Required?
Filing online is gated on an administrator-issued credential. The claim portal on the settlement website asks for a CPT ID and a Passcode, and the site says both can be found on the notice that was sent to class members. That makes this a proof-required settlement even for the Alternate Cash option, which asks for no documentation of any loss: a class member who never received a notice, or who no longer has it, cannot complete the online form with what they already know.A paper claim form can be requested and mailed instead, which is the route for anyone without those credentials, but a mailed form is a workaround rather than an open online filing path.
Cash Payment A carries a second, separate requirement: reasonable documentation of the loss itself. The notice is explicit that a personal certification, declaration or affidavit does not by itself count as documentation, though one may be submitted to add context to other records. A documented-loss claim that arrives without supporting records, and is not cured after the administrator asks, is rejected.
What Is the Deadline?
Claims are due December 7, 2026. An online claim has to be submitted by that date and a mailed claim form has to be postmarked by it. The notice does not specify a timezone, so treat the date itself as the deadline and do not count on a late-day cutoff.Two earlier deadlines both fall on November 7, 2026: the deadline to exclude yourself from the class, and the deadline to object to the settlement. Excluding yourself preserves the right to sue the hospital separately over the same claims, but it also gives up both the cash payment and the credit monitoring. Objecting is only available to class members who stay in.
How Do You Take Action?
Claims are filed on the official settlement website, WMH Data Settlement.com, which is run by the court-appointed administrator, CPT Group, Inc. Filing online means signing in with the CPT ID and Passcode printed on the notice, choosing between the documented-loss payment and the Alternate Cash payment, and uploading records if the documented-loss option is selected. A paper claim form can be requested through the settlement website instead and mailed back, postmarked by the deadline.Class members who only want the credit monitoring do not need to file anything. The enrollment code was sent with the notice and becomes effective after final approval. Anyone whose mailing or email address changes after filing should update it with the administrator through the settlement website, because that is where a payment or a request to cure a claim would be sent.
What Happens Next?
The next milestone is the final approval hearing on January 27, 2027 at 1:30 p.m. ET in the Superior Court of Wayne County, Georgia. At that hearing the court will consider whether the settlement is fair, reasonable and adequate, and will rule on class counsel's request for fees, costs and service awards. Timely objections are considered there, and class members may attend at their own expense without being required to.The notice says the hearing date and time can change, and that any change will be posted on the settlement website. Payments follow only if the court approves the settlement and that approval becomes final, which can take longer if anyone appeals. No payment date has been announced.
Sources and Verification
This page is based on the official notice of proposed class action settlement, the claim portal and the settlement website for WMH Data Settlement.com, and the settlement agreement filed in Bates, et al. v. Wayne Memorial Hospital Auxiliary, Inc. d/b/a Wayne Memorial Hospital, No. SUCV2025000239, Superior Court of Wayne County, Georgia. The notice is embedded below. Figures for the class size, the consolidation of the related cases and the May 2026 mediation come from the settlement agreement; the benefit tiers, deadlines and hearing date come from the notice.For a closely comparable Georgia case, see OCA's page on the Tift Regional Health System data breach settlement, which runs on the same two-tier cash structure in a different Georgia county court.
Questions
Can I take both the $25 Alternate Cash and the documented-loss payment?
No. Cash Payment A (documented losses up to $5,000) and Cash Payment B (Alternate Cash, estimated at $25) are alternatives, and the notice describes Alternate Cash as an option instead of a documented-loss claim. Credit monitoring is separate and is available on top of either cash option.
Can the estimated $25 payment be reduced?
Yes. Alternate Cash awards cannot exceed a $300,000 Settlement Cap. If total Alternate Cash claims pass that cap, the notice says every Alternate Cash award is reduced pro rata until the cap is no longer exceeded, so $25 is an estimate rather than a guaranteed amount.
Do I need my CPT ID and Passcode to file?
The online claim portal asks for a CPT ID and Passcode, and the settlement website says both appear on the notice that was mailed or emailed to class members. A paper claim form can be requested instead, but filing online is gated on those credentials, so the settlement is proof-required.
What happens if I do nothing at all?
Class members who do nothing still receive a credit monitoring enrollment code, which becomes effective after final approval, but no cash payment. They also stay in the Settlement Class, are bound by the settlement if the court approves it, and give up the right to sue over the claims the settlement resolves.
When will payments go out?
No payment date has been announced. The notice says valid claims are paid by the settlement administrator after the court approves the settlement and the approval becomes final. The final approval hearing is scheduled for January 27, 2027, and the court has not yet ruled.
Official Settlement Notice
For more class actions keep scrolling below.
Settlement Amount
No common fund disclosed
Alternate Cash payments capped at $300,000 class-wide
Case Title
Bates, et al. v. Wayne Memorial Hospital Auxiliary, Inc. d/b/a Wayne Memorial Hospital
Case Number
SUCV2025000239
Court
Superior Court of Wayne County, Georgia
Final Approval Hearing
January 27, 2027 at 1:30 PM ET
Superior Court of Wayne County, Jesup, Georgia · date and time subject to change
Administrator
CPT Group, Inc.
Official Website
WMH Data Settlement.com
