Retail Ventures, Inc. v. Nat'l Union Fire Ins. Co., No. 10-4576 (6th Cir. 2012)
Annotate this Case
In February 2005, hackers used the wireless network at a DSW store for unauthorized access to plaintiffs’ main computer system and downloaded credit card and checking account information for more than 1.4 million customers. Fraudulent transactions followed; plaintiffs were alerted by an affected credit card company and launched an investigation; National Union was notified of the insurance claim and advised plaintiffs that it would investigate. Plaintiffs incurred expenses for customer communications, public relations, customer claims and lawsuits, and attorney fees in connection with investigations by seven state Attorney Generals and the Federal Trade Commission. More than $4 million in losses arose from costs associated with charge backs, card reissuance, account monitoring, and fines imposed by VISA/MasterCard. National Union denied coverage. The district court awarded $6.8 million, finding that plaintiffs suffered a loss “resulting directly from” the “theft of any Insured property by Computer Fraud” and rejected application of the exclusion of “any loss of proprietary information, Trade Secrets, Confidential Processing Methods or other confidential information of any kind.” The court rejected a claim for breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing. The Sixth Circuit affirmed.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.