Oakland police officers have filed a claim against the city for damages suffered due to the ransomware attack on the city in February, officials with the police union said Monday.
The claim was filed Thursday by attorneys for the Oakland Police Officers’ Association, which represents more than 700 officers.
The union is asking for monetary compensation as well as credit monitoring services, bank monitoring services, credit restoration services and identity theft insurance.
“Having to file this legal claim is disappointing,” said police union President Barry Donelan in a statement. “Oakland employees trusted the city with their personal and confidential data, and the city failed them by releasing it through a combination of incompetence and negligence.” City officials, including the mayor’s office, said last week that they would meet with the police union following a threat of litigation.
As of Monday, there hasn’t been a meeting, but union officials said they are optimistic a meeting will occur.
A spokesperson for Mayor Sheng Thao on Monday referred a request for comment to City Attorney Barbara Parker’s office.
Parker’s office did not have a comment Monday, saying the office just received the claim and has not had time to review it. The city was closed Friday for Cesar Chavez Day.
The ransomware attackers released private, personal information of police officers, Donelan said. Reportedly, other employees’ private information was released, too.
The attack started Feb. 8. The attackers crippled the city’s information technology systems and demanded ransom to free the systems.
Attorneys for the police union said the city was repeatedly warned in the past and recently of “significant deficiencies in the security of its information technology systems,” according to the claim filed Thursday.
The claim was filed by the police union’s attorneys Rains, Lucia, Stern, St. Phalle and Silver and is a precondition for filing a lawsuit against the city, attorney Rockne Lucia Jr. said.
“We are currently evaluating all of our options and will make a determination on how to protect the interests of the members of the OPOA in the next few weeks,” Lucia said by email….
