Sequoia data breach settlement
Yes. The Sequoia data breach settlement is real: an $8.7 million class action settlement in federal court, Northern District of California, run by Kroll Settlement Administration. Payments to people who filed a valid claim are going out now.
Final approval was granted June 2, 2026; the administrator says payments for approved claims were issued on August 31, 2026 and uncashed checks become void after November 30, 2026.
Is it real?
Yes. The case is In re: Sequoia Benefits and Insurance Data Breach Litigation, case number 3:22-cv-08217-RFL, in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. The court appointed Kroll Settlement Administration to run it, and its only official site is sequoiadatasettlement.com.
How the real notice reached people. Email from 'Sequoia Data Breach Settlement Administrator' with the subject 'Notice of Class Action Settlement – Sequoia Data Breach Litigation – <Class Member ID>' and a 'Your Class Member ID' line at the top; short-form postcard notices by US Mail for people without a working email. The Class Member ID (the notice calls it the 'Unique ID number') was needed to file a claim. The sending email address itself is not published. In March 2026 the court found Kroll had missed address traces for 30,715 bounced emails and 2,000 late-returned postcards, and ordered new mailed notices to those people with later deadlines. No scam warning is published; the site says it is 'the only authorized website for this case'. Payment emails came from [email protected] (Zelle), [email protected] (PayPal) and [email protected] (Venmo).
To tell a real message from a scam:
- The only official site is sequoiadatasettlement.com.Type it into your browser yourself rather than tapping a link. Claim pages on news and lawyer-advertising sites, and lookalike addresses, are not the administrator.
- Filing costs nothing.No real settlement charges a fee to file a claim or to release a payment. Anyone asking for one is running a scam.
- Nobody needs your passwords.The administrator never asks for your Sequoia password, your online banking login or a code texted to you. Payment details go only into the claim form on sequoiadatasettlement.com.
- Check by phone.If you aren’t sure a message is real, call the administrator on (833) 630-5405, the number on sequoiadatasettlement.com, not one in the message.
- Claims have closed.The deadline was 11 March 2026. A message now urging you to file a new claim, or to pay or “verify” your bank details to receive money, is a warning sign. Check on sequoiadatasettlement.com instead.
Who qualifies
All persons in the United States who appear on Sequoia's list of individuals whose information was compromised in the September 22 to October 6, 2022 data security incident; in practice, people who got a notice from Sequoia. A California subclass covers people who were California residents at the time.
Size: approximately 584,109 individuals in the Class, of which approximately 210,673 were California residents (Email Notice); a later court filing counts 578,614 class members.
It covers people in the United States only (with a California subclass). If you live elsewhere, you are not part of it, whatever a message says.
There are 2 groups, each with its own payments:
- Settlement Class. All persons in the United States on Sequoia's list of individuals whose information was compromised in the incident..
- California Subclass. Class members who were California residents between September 22 and October 6, 2022..
How much
The total settlement is $8,700,000.00 (non-reversionary). What each person can claim:
| Benefit | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Cash payment | projected to be $75 | adjusted up or down pro rata |
| Documented losses (instead of the cash payment) | up to $7,500 | documented out-of-pocket losses; includes up to 4 hours of lost time at $30 per hour, only with documented losses. If losses come to less than the cash payment, you automatically get the cash payment |
| California subclass payment | projected to be $150 | extra, for California residents during Sept 22 to Oct 6, 2022; adjusted pro rata |
- Settlement Class: Cash payment projected to be $75; Or documented out-of-pocket losses up to $7,500, including up to 4 hours of lost time at $30 per hour.
- California Subclass: Additional cash payment projected to be $150.
An amount marked estimated or pro rata changes with the number of valid claims: more claims, smaller shares. Losses need proof, such as receipts or bank statements.
Deadline and payout
- Claim deadline: (passed). Extended to 2026-05-13 (opt-out and objection to 2026-04-15) only for people whose email notice bounced or whose postcard came back late, by court order of 2026-03-12..
- Opt-out and objection deadline: .
- Final approval hearing: .
- Final approval granted: .
Payout. Payments for approved claims were issued on August 31, 2026 (paper check for mail claims; chosen electronic method for online claims). Uncashed checks become void after Monday November 30, 2026.
The administrator: “Payments for approved Claims were issued on August 31, 2026.”
Filing and payment
- Claims are closed (March 11, 2026; May 13, 2026 for the re-noticed group).
- If you filed and have not been paid, check spam for a Zelle, PayPal, Venmo or direct-deposit notice, then contact the administrator at www.sequoiadatasettlement.com or (833) 630-5405.
- Cash or deposit a paper check before November 30, 2026, when uncashed checks become void.
Official site: sequoiadatasettlement.com. Phone: (833) 630-5405. Mail: Sequoia Data Breach Settlement, c/o Kroll Settlement Administration, P.O. Box 225391, New York, NY 10150-5391.
The breach, and what to do today
An unauthorized third party may have accessed a cloud storage system Sequoia used to hold personal information on its corporate clients' employees and their family members between September 22 and October 6, 2022. Sequoia, a benefits, insurance and PEO (payroll/HR) provider, began mailing breach notice letters in December 2022. The attacker has not been publicly named.
What was exposed: names; addresses; dates of birth; employment status; marital status; Social Security numbers; wage data related to benefits; member identification cards; Covid-19 test results; vaccination cards.
A settlement pays for what already happened. The data is still out there, so do these now:
- Freeze your credit.In the US it’s free at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, and no one can open credit in your name while it’s on. Lift it for a day when you apply for credit yourself.
- Get an IRS Identity Protection PIN.It stops anyone filing a tax return in your name with your Social Security number. Request one at irs.gov/ippin.
- Watch your statements.Look for small charges you don’t recognise and report them to your bank. Ask for a new card if a full card number leaked.
- Distrust messages about Sequoia and this settlement.Breach data is used to make scam messages personal enough to believe, for years afterwards. Go to the company or the official site yourself.
To see which other breaches your email address is in, search it on Have I Been Pwned, then read Breaches.
Questions
Is the Sequoia data breach settlement legit?
Yes. It is In re: Sequoia Benefits and Insurance Data Breach Litigation, case 3:22-cv-08217-RFL, in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. Kroll Settlement Administration runs it for the court, and the only official site is sequoiadatasettlement.com.
Who qualifies for the Sequoia settlement?
All persons in the United States who appear on Sequoia's list of individuals whose information was compromised in the September 22 to October 6, 2022 data security incident; in practice, people who got a notice from Sequoia. A California subclass covers people who were California residents at the time.
How much will I get from the Sequoia settlement?
Up to up to $7,500 for losses you can prove, or projected to be $75 as a cash payment without receipts. The total settlement is $8,700,000.00 (non-reversionary). Final amounts depend on how many valid claims there are.
What is the deadline for the Sequoia settlement?
The claim deadline was 11 March 2026. It has passed.
When will the Sequoia settlement pay out?
Payments for approved claims were issued on August 31, 2026 (paper check for mail claims; chosen electronic method for online claims). Uncashed checks become void after Monday November 30, 2026.
Other settlements: California Casualty, Finastra, Telmate, Covenant Health, AMCA, DaVita, and the rest in Settlements.
Sources
Checked on 7 November 2026. HARD is not part of the case and doesn’t take claims.
- Sequoia data settlement: home and important dates, Kroll Settlement Administration, read 7 Nov 2026: payment update 09/01/2026, deadlines, contact.
- Sequoia data settlement: FAQ, Kroll Settlement Administration, read 7 Nov 2026: fund, benefits, fees, payment emails (FAQ 20).
- Email Notice, Kroll Settlement Administration, read 7 Nov 2026: sender name, subject line, Class Member ID, class size, $8,700,000.00 fund.
- Final Approval Order (Doc. 177), US District Court, N.D. Cal., read 7 Nov 2026: granted June 2, 2026; fees $2,175,000.00; payments within 60 days of Effective Date.
- Order as modified extending certain deadlines, re-sending certain notice (Doc. 166), US District Court, N.D. Cal., read 7 Nov 2026: notice errors, extended deadlines for two groups, 578,614 class members.
- Consolidated Amended Class Action Complaint (Doc. 47), Plaintiffs' counsel (court filing), read 7 Nov 2026: data types as Sequoia described them; notice letters December 2022.