Roughly 163,440 people will get two years of credit monitoring from this settlement whether or not they ever open the envelope. The cash is the opposite: the estimated $25 Alternate Cash payment requires a claim form, and the claim form requires a CPT ID and Passcode that only exists on the mailed notice. Doing nothing here is not a neutral choice — it is the choice to take the monitoring and leave the money.
Status: Claims open | Claim deadline December 7, 2026 | Opt out or object by November 7, 2026 | $25 estimated, or up to $5,000 documented
What Happened
Wayne Memorial Hospital discovered the incident on or around June 3, 2024, and determined that an unauthorized party had access to its network from approximately May 30 to June 3, 2024. It began sending notification letters on or around August 27, 2025 — a gap of nearly fifteen months between discovery and notice.
Separate proposed class actions followed, were consolidated before one court, and the parties reached terms after a mediation in May 2026. The case is 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 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 Is In the Class
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 in time.
The Benefit Nobody Has to Claim
This is the structural feature that separates this settlement from most of the breach settlements currently open, and it is the reason the headline here is not the $25.
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.
Compare that to the CPAP Medical Supplies and Valley Oaks settlements open on the same calendar, where the monitoring is only available to class members who submit a claim form. Here it arrives with the mailing. What does not arrive with the mailing is any cash at all.
Two Cash Options, and They Are Alternatives
| Cash Payment A — documented losses, up to $5,000 | 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. |
| Cash Payment B — Alternate Cash, estimated $25 | No documentation at all. But the figure is an estimate, not a fixed amount. |
You take one or the other, not both. Credit monitoring is separate and is available on top of either.
The $25 can shrink. Alternate Cash awards cannot exceed a $300,000 Settlement Cap, and if claims pass that cap every Alternate Cash award is reduced pro rata until it no longer does. Run the arithmetic against the class size: $300,000 divided across a class of roughly 163,440 people is about $1.84 a head if everyone filed. The $25 estimate is built on an assumption about claim rates, not on the class size, and a high filing rate is exactly what would cut it.
Losses already reimbursed from another source — including through a credit monitoring or identity protection product — are not payable again under the documented tier.
No Published Fund
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.
Filing Online Needs a CPT ID and Passcode
The claim portal asks for a CPT ID and a Passcode, and the settlement website 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.
The Dates
| November 7, 2026 | Deadline to exclude yourself from the class, and deadline to object. |
| December 7, 2026 | Claim deadline — submitted online or postmarked by this date. The notice does not specify a timezone. |
| January 27, 2027, 1:30 p.m. ET | Final approval hearing, Superior Court of Wayne County, Georgia. |
Because the notice does not specify a timezone, treat the date itself as the deadline and do not count on a late-day cutoff. Excluding yourself preserves the right to sue the hospital separately over the same claims, but it gives up both the cash payment and the credit monitoring. Objecting is only available to class members who stay in.
What Happens Next
At the January 27, 2027 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.
How to File
Claims are filed on the official settlement website, WMHDataSettlement.com, 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. 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to file a claim to get the credit monitoring?
No, and that is unusual among the breach settlements currently open. Every class member is entitled to enroll in two years of single-bureau credit monitoring with $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. Cash is the opposite – no claim form, no payment.
Can I take both the $25 Alternate Cash and the documented-loss payment?
No. Cash Payment A for documented losses up to $5,000 and Cash Payment B, the Alternate Cash estimated at $25, are alternatives to each other, 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. The settlement agreement describes a class of roughly 163,440 individuals, so the filing rate is what decides whether the estimate holds.
Do I need my CPT ID and Passcode to file?
To file online, yes. The 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 and mailed instead, but filing online is gated on those credentials, so the settlement is proof-required even for the no-documentation cash option.
What happens if I do nothing at all?
You still receive a credit monitoring enrollment code, which becomes effective after final approval, but no cash payment. You 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.
Sources
- Official notice of proposed class action settlement, the claim portal and the settlement website — WMHDataSettlement.com, administered by CPT Group, Inc.
- 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 source for the approximately 163,440 class size, the consolidation of the related cases and the May 2026 mediation.
- OpenClassActions.com — Wayne Memorial Hospital Data Breach Settlement.
Source and credit: the settlement terms, deadlines and benefit tiers described above are drawn from our sister site’s reporting — OpenClassActions.com: Wayne Memorial Hospital Data Breach Settlement — $25 — which tracks this case against the court-approved notice and the official settlement website and is updated as the court rules.
Legal Disclaimer
This article is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. OpenClassActions.org is a consumer news site, not a law firm and not the settlement administrator, and is not affiliated with any party to the case described. The allegations are allegations; the defendants deny wrongdoing and no court has decided the merits. Deadlines, benefit amounts and payment timing can change as the court and the administrator act, so confirm current status on the official settlement website. You never need to pay anyone to file a claim or to receive a settlement payment.