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 GATE 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 Vivienne Beutelschiess, et al. v. GATE Petroleum Company, in the Circuit Court for the Fourth Judicial Circuit in and for Duval County, Florida, Case No. 16-2023-CA-009283-XXXX-MA. The people who sued are called the Plaintiffs. GATE is called the Defendant.
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This lawsuit arises out of the Data Incident. Plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against Defendant, individually, and on behalf of anyone who was potentially impacted by the Data Incident, claiming GATE was responsible for the Data Incident. Plaintiffs assert claims for negligence and breach of implied contract and seek reimbursement and compensation from Defendant.
GATE denies all of the claims asserted against it in the lawsuit and denies all allegations of wrongdoing and liability.
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In a class action, one or more people called “Representative Plaintiffs” 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 Plaintiffs are Vivienne Beutelschiess, Ronda DeGroft, and Brittney Respess. 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 Plaintiffs and their attorneys believe the Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate and, thus, best for the Class and its members. The Settlement does NOT mean that GATE did anything wrong or is in any way admitting liability.
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You are included in the Settlement Class if GATE notified you that personal information may have been potentially accessed by an unauthorized actor as a result of the Data Incident occurring on or around September 20, 2022 to September 22, 2022.
Specifically excluded from the Settlement Class are: (i) GATE 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 1-866-675-3062 with questions or review the Important Documents posted to this website. You may also write to GATE Petroleum Claims Administrator, PO Box 25226, Santa Ana, CA 92799. Please do not contact the Court with questions.
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The Settlement will provide two (2) years of free credit monitoring and cash payments to Class Members who submit valid claims.
The Settlement provides two years of credit monitoring services. You must submit a claim to obtain these credit monitoring services.
The Settlement also 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 by including the unique identifier on your claim form that was provided in the notice you received by postcard.
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.
Finally, as part of the Settlement, GATE has agreed, for a period of three (3) years, to implement and maintain reasonable data security procedures. More details are provided in the Settlement Agreement.
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Settlement Class Members are each eligible to receive reimbursement of up to $500 (in total, per person) for:
Unreimbursed costs or expenditures incurred in responding to notice of the Data Incident since November 9, 2022, including, without limitation, the following:
costs incurred on or after November 9, 2022 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 November 9, 2022 through the date of this claim submission; and/or
Compensation for between one (1) and three (3) hours of time spent responding to notice of the Data Incident from November 9, 2022 to the Claims Deadline, at a rate of $25 per hour.
More details are provided in the Settlement Agreement.
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Settlement Class Members are each eligible to receive reimbursement of up to $4,000 (in total, per person) for unreimbursed costs or expenditures that are fairly traceable to the Data Incident, which 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 my personal information.
More details are provided in the Settlement Agreement.
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To ask for a payment or to sign up for credit monitoring, you must complete and submit a Claim Form by June 27, 2025. Claim forms can be filed online here, or copies of the paper claim form are available for download here, or you may request one by emailing info@GatePetroleumDataIncident.com. Read the instructions carefully, fill out the Claim Form, and submit it online or mail it postmarked no later than June 27, 2025 to:
GATE Petroleum Claims Administrator
PO Box 25226,
Santa Ana, CA 92799
If you submit a claim for reimbursement of Ordinary and/or Extraordinary Out-of-Pocket Losses, you must also submit documentation supporting your claim. Documentation supporting your losses can include receipts or other documentation not “self-prepared” that documents the costs incurred. “Self-prepared” documents such as handwritten receipts are, by themselves, insufficient to receive reimbursement, but can be considered to add clarity to or support other submitted documentation.
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The Claims Administrator will decide in their 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 June 27, 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 1.22 of the Settlement Agreement. You will be “releasing” GATE and all related people or entities as described in Sections 1.21 and 1.23 of the Settlement Agreement.
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.
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If you do not want a payment from this Settlement, but you want to keep the right to sue GATE 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.
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 Vivienne Beutelschiess, et al. v. GATE Petroleum Company, in the Circuit Court for the Fourth Judicial Circuit in and for Duval County, Florida, Case No. 16-2023-CA-009283-XXXX-MA. Include: (i) your full name, current mailing address, telephone number, and email address; (ii) a statement that you want to be exclude from the Settlement Class; and (iii) your signature. You must mail your Exclusion Request postmarked by May 28, 2025, to:
GATE Petroleum Settlement Exclusions
PO Box 25226,
Santa Ana, CA 92799
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Yes. The Court appointed the following lawyers as “Class Counsel”: Patrick A. Barthle of MORGAN & MORGAN COMPLEX LITIGATION GROUP, 201 N. Franklin St., 7th Floor, Tampa, Florida 33602, and Ryan D. Maxey of MAXEY LAW FIRM, P.A., 107 N. 11th St. #402, Tampa, Florida 33602.
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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Plaintiffs will move the Court for an order awarding attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses of up to $300,000. GATE agrees not to oppose Plaintiffs’ motion for attorneys’ fees and expenses to the extent they do not exceed $125,000. GATE reserves the right to oppose any motion for attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses that exceeds $125,000. Class Counsel will also request approval of a service award of $2,000 for each 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 of payments to Settlement Class Members who submit valid claims.
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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, Vivienne Beutelschiess, et al. v. GATE Petroleum Company, in the Circuit Court for the Fourth Judicial Circuit in and for Duval County, Florida, Case No. 16-2023-CA-009283-XXXX-MA, 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;
a list of all persons who will be called to testify at the Final Fairness Hearing in support of the objection;
a list, by case name, court, and docket number, of all other cases in which he or she has filed an objection to any proposed class action settlement within the last 3 years (directly or through a lawyer); and
a list, by case number, court, and docket number, of all other cases in which he or she has been named plaintiff in any class action or served as a lead plaintiff or class representative.
To be timely, your objection must be filed with the Clerk of the Court for the Circuit Court for the Fourth Judicial Circuit in and for Duval County, Florida no later than May 28, 2025.
In addition, you must mail a copy of your objection to both Class Counsel and Defense Counsel, postmarked no later than May 28, 2025:
Court | Class Counsel | GATE’s Counsel |
Clerk of the Court | Patrick A. Barthle | Christopher A. Wiech |
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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.
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The Court will hold a hearing to decide whether to grant final approval of the Settlement.
The Court will hold a Final Settlement Approval Hearing at 2:00 p.m. on October 1, 2025, by Zoom as ordered by the Court. The hearing may be moved to a different date or time without additional notice, so it is a good idea to check this website.
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 Plaintiffs. 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 Fourth Judicial Circuit in and for Duval County, Florida by mailing it postmarked no later than May 28, 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 May 28, 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 GATE or any related people or entities as described in Sections 1.21 and 1.23 of the Settlement Agreement.
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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 here. You may also write with questions to the Claims Administrator, PO Box 25226, Santa Ana, CA 92799. You can also get a Claim Form on the Important Documents page, or by emailing info@GatePetroleumDataIncident.com.
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