Breanna Stewart
MC Contributor
The affects of the Ashley Madison data hack continues to unfold globally, and for one local Mississippi resident, litigation was the only next step to take.
According to The Clarion-Ledger, an anonymous Madison citizen, only identified in the suit as “John Doe”, has filed the first legal documents, seeking compensation, from online dating and social networking service, Ashley Madison, after an August 2015 data breach saw some 37 million names of users, along with e-mail addresses, leaked onto the Internet.
The Canadian-based site, which touts, “Life is short. Have an affair”, specializes in creating relationships for individuals who are either married or are in a long-term and/or committed relationship.
Represented by Allison Fry of Eaves Law Firm in Jackson, the suit alleges that Ashley Madison did not take necessary and reasonable precautions to protect users. As a result, Doe, who created an account with the site in 2010, but maintains he closed the account some three years later, preferring to rebuild his marriage instead, is reportedly now in jeopardy of losing his job; the man’s wife has also supposedly left him, as well, after his personal information was revealed in the data breach.
Doe is also accusing Ashley Madison of negligence, inflection of emotional distress, violating his constitutional right to privacy, along with breach of implied contract, and is seeking an unspecified dollar amount from the company as a result.
While the loss of a spouse due to an affair is subjective, LaVenita Cottrell, Jackson State University’s Associate Director of Career Services, said termination of employment is completely impartial.
“[It’s] based upon the employer, based on solely their discretion only,” said Cottrell.
Tameka White, a senior graphic design major at Jackson State University, agrees with Cottrell’s sentiments.
“To be honest, I feel if a person is performing well within their profession, and they’re not letting their personal life interfere with their job, I don’t think they should be fired,” said White.
A number of other Jackson State students, including urban regional planning major, Terrance Anderson, echoed White’s views, believing an individual’s personal life should not be a detriment to their employment.
“I don’t think a person should get fired just because their name is on the site. If it was interfering with his work, the actual job he is doing, that’s one thing, but if it’s not interfering with their job, I don’t believe the company has a right to actually fire somebody,” said Anderson.
There have been other ramifications stemming from the massive data breach of Ashley Madison.
According to CNN, a married New Orleans pastor reportedly committed suicide after being associated with the site. Investorplace.com is reporting that three users from California, New Jersey, and Maryland., have all filed suits against both Amazon and GoDaddy, service hosts of Ashley Madison, for emotional stress. At the time of reporting, both Amazon and GoDaddy have both been dropped from the lawsuits filed against their companies.
Ashley Madison’s CEO, Noel Biderman, who at one point maintained that he was happily married and did not cheat himself, has also now been accused of adultery since the hack. And as of Sept. 11, some 11 million passwords have now been un-coded by password-cracking hobbyist group, CynoSure Prime.
While it is assumed that more lawsuits will be filed in the upcoming days and weeks, as controversy from the hack continues to roll on, Avid Life Media, the parent company for Ashley Madison, has not acknowledged the suit, but has promised to address the allegations in upcoming litigation.
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