Aetna targeted in suit for losing data

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HARTFORD, Conn., June 10 (UPI) -- U.S. insurer Aetna has been targeted in a lawsuit alleging it failed to protect personal information of employees and job applicants, documents indicate.

The lawsuit comes after Aetna, of Hartford, Conn., was struck by computer hackers to access a company Web site holding personal data for 450,000 current and former employees as well as job applicants, the Hartford Courant reported Wednesday.

The suit was filed by former employee Corneilus Allison of Darby, Pa., last week in U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania, and charges the insurer with negligence, breach of implied contract, negligent misrepresentation and invasion of privacy. Allison is seeking certification of the lawsuit as a class action, the Courant said.

Aetna spokeswoman Cynthia Michener told the newspaper the company did the right thing in notifying employees that their information had been hacked and in offering free credit monitoring for a year to about 65,000 people who had Social Security numbers on the site's database.