1. Why was the Notice issued?
2. What is this lawsuit about?
3. Why is this lawsuit a class action?
4. Why is there a settlement?
5. How do I know if I am included in the Settlement?
6. What if I am not sure whether I am included in the Settlement?
7. What does the Settlement provide?
8. What payments are available for Ordinary Expense Reimbursement?
9. What payments are available for Extraordinary Expense Reimbursement?
10. How do I get benefits?
11. How will claims be decided?
12. Do I need to do anything to remain in the Settlement?
13. What am I giving up as part of the Settlement?
14. If I exclude myself, can I get a payment from this Settlement?
15. If I do not exclude myself, can I sue DCACF for the same thing later?
16. How do I exclude myself from the Settlement?
17. Do I have a lawyer in this case?
18. How will the lawyers be paid?
19. How do I tell the Court that I do not like the Settlement?
20. What is the difference between objecting and asking to be excluded?
21. When and where will the Court decide whether to approve the Settlement?
22. Do I have to attend the hearing?
23. May I speak at the hearing?
24. What happens if I do nothing?
25. How do I get more information?
The Court authorized the Notice because you have a right to know about the proposed Settlement in this class action lawsuit and about all of your options before the Court decides whether to give “final approval” to the Settlement. The notice explains the legal rights and options that you may exercise before the Court decides whether to approve the Settlement.
This matter involves a lawsuit styled Wagner v. D.C. & Associates of Central Florida, P.A. in the Circuit Court for the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit in and for Seminole County, Florida, Case No. 2023-CA-003349. The person who sued is called the Plaintiff. DCACF is called the Defendant.
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The lawsuit claims that DCACF (“Defendant”) was responsible for the Data Incident and asserted claims for negligence, breach of implied contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. The lawsuit seeks (i) free credit monitoring services, (ii) reimbursement of unreimbursed costs and expenditures incurred in responding to notice of the Data Incident, (iii) compensation for lost time incurred in responding to notice of the Data Incident, (iv) reimbursement of other unreimbursed costs and expenditures that are fairly traceable to the Data Incident, and (v) compensation for lost time incurred in remedying issues related to the Data Incident.
DCACF denies all of the Plaintiff’s claims and maintains it did not do anything wrong.
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In a class action, one or more people called “Representative Plaintiff(s)” sue on behalf of all people who have similar claims. All of these people together are the “Class” or “Class Members.” In this case, the Representative Plaintiff is David Wagner. One Court resolves the issues for all Class Members, except for those who exclude themselves from the Class.
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By agreeing to settle, both sides avoid the cost and risk of a trial, and people who submit valid timely claims will get compensation. The Representative Plaintiff and his attorneys believe the Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate and, thus, best for the Class and its members. The Settlement does NOT mean that DCACF did anything wrong.
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You are included in the Settlement Class if you are a U.S. resident individual to whom written notification was provided by DCACF regarding the Data Incident on or around July 26, 2023
Specifically excluded from the Settlement Class are: (i) DCACF and its officers and directors; (ii) all Settlement Class Members who timely and validly request exclusion from the Settlement Class; (iii) the Judge assigned to evaluate the fairness of this settlement; (iv) the attorneys representing the Parties in the Litigation; and (v) any other individual found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be guilty under criminal law of initiating, causing, aiding or abetting the criminal activity involved in the Data Incident or who pleads nolo contendere to any such charge
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If you are not sure whether you are included in the Settlement, you may call 1-833-360-6805 with questions or visit the Important Documents page. You may also write with questions to D.C. & Associates of Central Florida Claims Administrator, P.O. Box 25226, Santa Ana, CA 92799. Please do not contact the Court with questions.
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The Settlement will provide free credit monitoring services and cash payments to people who submit valid claims or an alternative cash payment of $50.00 in lieu of a claim for reimbursement.
The Settlement provides for two (2) types of reimbursements:
Ordinary Expense Reimbursement (Question 8) and
Extraordinary Expense Reimbursement (Question 9).
You may submit a claim for either or both types of payments. You must also provide proof of your class membership in the form of either (1) the unique identifier provided in the Notice you received by postcard or email; or (2) name and physical address you provided to DCACF for customer purposes.
If you provide a bill or payment card statement as part of required proof for any part of your claim, you may redact unrelated transactions and all but the first four and last four digits of any account number. In order to claim each type of payment, you must provide related documentation with the Claim Form, and the expense for which you are submitting a claim form cannot have been reimbursed through any other source.
In lieu of making a claim for Out-Of-Pocket Losses and Attested Time, you may make a claim for an alternative cash payment of $50.00.
Finally, as part of the Settlement, DCACF has agreed to implement and maintain verifiable contractual data security procedures for a period 3 years following the execution of a formal settlement agreement.
No opinion concerning the tax consequences of this Settlement to any Settlement Class Member is given or will be given by Defendant, Defendant’s counsel, or Class Counsel, nor is any Party or his/her/its counsel providing any representation or guarantee respecting the tax consequences of the Settlement as to any Settlement Class Member. Settlement Class Members should consult their own tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of the Settlement and any tax reporting obligations with respect thereto. Each Settlement Class Member is responsible for his/her taxes or tax reporting and other obligations respecting the Settlement, if any.
More details are provided in the Settlement Agreement.
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All Class members may submit a claim for Ordinary Out-of-Pocket Losses and Attested Time up to $2,000.00 per individual.
“Ordinary Out-of-Pocket Losses” are unreimbursed costs or expenditures incurred by a Class member in responding to notice of the data incident. Ordinary Out-of-Pocket Losses may include, without limitation, the following:
costs incurred on or after July 26, 2023, associated with accessing or freezing/unfreezing credit reports with any credit reporting agency;
other miscellaneous expenses incurred related to any Ordinary Out-of- Pocket Loss such as notary, fax, postage, copying, mileage, and long-distance telephone charges; and
credit monitoring or other mitigative costs that were incurred on or after July 26, 2023, through the date of the Class member’s claim submission.
Whether or not they have Ordinary Out-of-Pocket Losses, Class members may also submit a claim for up to 4 hours of time spent remedying issues related to receipt of notice of the data breach at $20 per hour by providing an attestation and a brief description of (1) the actions taken in response to the data breach notice and (2) the time associated with each action
More details are provided in the Settlement Agreement.
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In addition to submitting a claim for Ordinary Out-of-Pocket Losses, Class members may submit a claim for Extraordinary Out-of-Pocket Losses and Attested Time up to $5,000.00 per individual.
“Extraordinary Out-of-Pocket Losses” are unreimbursed costs or expenditures incurred by a Class member that are fairly traceable to the data breach. Extraordinary Out-of-Pocket Losses may include, without limitation, the unreimbursed costs, expenses, losses or charges incurred a result of identity theft or identity fraud, falsified tax returns, or other possible misuse of Class member’s personal information.
Extraordinary Out-of-Pocket Losses will be deemed “fairly traceable” if (1) the timing of the loss occurred on or after July 26, 2023 (or the earliest verifiable date the data breach occurred); and (2) the personal information used to commit identity theft or fraud consisted of the same personal information that the claimant provided to Defendant prior to the data incident at issue in this litigation.
In addition to Ordinary Attested Time, and whether or not they have Extraordinary Out-of-Pocket Losses, Class members may also submit a claim for up to 8 hours of time spent remedying issues related to the data breach at $30 per hour by providing an attestation and a brief description of (1) the actions taken in response to the data breach and (2) the time associated with each action
More details are provided in the Settlement Agreement, which is available in the Important Documents section of this website.
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To ask for a payment or to sign up for credit monitoring services, you must complete and submit a Claim Form. Claim Forms can be submitted online here. Copies of the paper Claim Form are available for download here , or you may request one by mail by emailing info@DCACFDataIncident.com. Read the instructions carefully, fill out the Claim Form, and submit it online or mail it so that it is postmarked no later than October 15, 2025, to:
D.C. & Associates of Central Florida
Claims Administrator
P.O. Box 25226
Santa Ana, CA 92799
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The Claims Administrator will decide in its professional judgment whether the information provided on a Claim Form is complete, timely and valid. The Claims Administrator may require additional information from any claimant. If the required information is not provided timely, the claim will be considered invalid and will not be paid.
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You do not have to do anything to remain in the Settlement, but if you want a payment you must submit a Claim Form postmarked by October 15, 2025.
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If the Settlement becomes final, you will give up your right to sue for the claims being resolved by this Settlement. The specific claims you are giving up are described in Section 1.23 of the Settlement Agreement. You will be “releasing” DCACF and all related people or entities as described in Sections 1.22 and 1.24 of the Settlement Agreement. The Settlement Agreement is available here.
The Settlement Agreement describes the released claims with specific descriptions, so read it carefully. If you have any questions you can talk to the law firms listed in Question 17 for free or, you can, of course, talk to your own lawyer at your own expense if you have questions about what this means.
If you do not want a payment from this Settlement, but you want to keep the right to sue DCACF about issues in this case, then you must take steps to get out of the Settlement Class. This is called excluding yourself from – or is sometimes referred to as “opting out” of – the Settlement Class.
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No. If you exclude yourself, you will not be entitled to any benefits of the Settlement, but you will not be bound by any judgment in this case.
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No. Unless you exclude yourself, you give up any right to sue for the claims that this Settlement resolves. You must exclude yourself from the Settlement Class to start your own lawsuit or to be part of any different lawsuit relating to the claims in this case. If you exclude yourself, do not submit a Claim Form to ask for a payment.
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To exclude yourself, send a letter that says you want to be excluded from the Settlement in lawsuit styled Wagner v. D.C. & Associates of Central Florida, P.A., in the Circuit Court for the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit in and for Seminole County, Florida, Case No. 2023-CA-003349. Include your name, address, and signature. You must mail your Exclusion Request postmarked by September 15, 2025, to:
D.C. & Associates of Central Florida Settlement
Attn: Exclusions
P.O. Box 25226
Santa Ana, CA 92799
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Yes. The Court appointed the following lawyers as “Class Counsel”:
Patrick A. Barthle | Ryan D. Maxey |
You will not be charged for these lawyers. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer, you may hire one at your own expense.
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Class Counsel will request the Court’s approval of an award for attorneys’ fees and reasonable costs and expenses of up to $100,000.00. Class Counsel will also request approval of a service award of $2,500 for the Representative Plaintiff. Any amount that the Court awards for attorneys’ fees, costs, expenses, and an incentive award will be paid separately per the terms of the Settlement Agreement and will not reduce the amount available to Settlement Class Members who submit valid claims.
You can tell the Court that you do not agree with the Settlement or some part of it.
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You can object to the Settlement if you do not like it or some part of it. The Court will consider your views. To do so, you must file a written objection in this case, Wagner v. D.C. & Associates of Central Florida, P.A., in the Circuit Court for the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit in and for Seminole County, Florida, Case No. 2023-CA-003349, with the Clerk of the Court at the address below.
Your objection must include all of the following:
your full name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address (if any);
information identifying you as a Settlement Class Member, including proof that you are a member of the Settlement Class, which is described in response to Question 5;
a written statement of all grounds for the objection, accompanied by any legal support for the objection that you believe is applicable;
the identity of all counsel representing you, if any, in connection with your objection;
a statement confirming whether you intend to personally appear and/or testify at the Final Fairness Hearing;
your signature or the signature of your duly authorized attorney or other duly authorized representative;
To be timely, your objection must be filed with the Clerk of the Court for the Circuit Court for the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit in and for Seminole County, Florida no later than September 15, 2025.
In addition, you must mail a copy of your objection to both Class Counsel and Defense Counsel, postmarked no later than September 15, 2025:
Court | Class Counsel | DCACF’s Counsel |
Clerk of the Court | Patrick A. Barthle | Jill H. Fertel |
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Objecting is telling the Court that you do not like the Settlement and why you do not think it should be approved. You can object only if you do not exclude yourself from the Class. Excluding yourself is telling the Court that you do not want to be part of the Class. If you exclude yourself, you have no basis to object because the case no longer affects you.
The Court will hold a hearing to decide whether to grant final approval of the Settlement.
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The Court will hold a Final Settlement Approval Hearing at 9:30 a.m. E.T. on October 7, 2025, at the Circuit Court for the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit in and for Seminole County, Florida, via Microsoft Teams. Please visit the Settlement website for instructions on how to join the Hearing via Teams, which will become available within the week prior to the hearing.
The hearing may be moved to a different date or time without additional notice, so it is a good idea to check this website frequently or call 833-360-6805. At this hearing, the Court will consider whether the Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate. If there are timely objections, the Court will consider them and will listen to people who have asked to speak at the hearing if such a request has been properly made. The Court will also rule on the request for an award of attorneys’ fees and reasonable costs and expenses, as well as the request for an incentive award for the Representative Plaintiff. After the hearing, the Court will decide whether to approve the Settlement. We do not know how long these decisions will take.
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No. Class Counsel will present the Settlement Agreement to the Court. You or your own lawyer are welcome to attend at your expense, but you are not required to do so. If you send an objection, you do not have to come to the Court to talk about it. As long as you filed your written objection on time with the Court and mailed it according to the instructions provided in Question 19, the Court will consider it.
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You may ask the Court for permission to speak at the Fairness Hearing. To do so, you must file an objection according to the instructions in Question 19, including all the information required therein. Your Objection must be filed with the Clerk of Court for the Circuit Court for the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit in and for Seminole County, Florida by mailing it postmarked no later than September 15, 2025. In addition, you must mail a copy of your objection to both Class Counsel and Defense Counsel listed in Question 19, postmarked no later than September 15, 2025.
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If you do nothing, you will get no benefits from this Settlement. Unless you exclude yourself, after the Settlement is granted final approval and the judgment becomes final, you will not be able to start a lawsuit, continue with a lawsuit, or be part of any other lawsuit about the legal issues in this case, ever again against DCACF or any related people or entities as described in Sections 1.22 and 1.24 of the Settlement Agreement. The Settlement Agreement is available here.
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This website and the Notice summarize the proposed Settlement. More details are in a Settlement Agreement. You can get a copy of the Settlement Agreement, along with other case-related documents including the Claim Form, on the Important Documents page. You may also contact the Claims Administrator with questions by calling 833-360-6805, or writing to DC & Associates of Central Florida Settlement, Claims Administrator, P.O. Box 25226, Santa Ana, CA 92799.
DO NOT CONTACT THE COURT OR CLERK OF COURT REGARDING THIS SETTLEMENT
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