$12,225,000: Advocate Aurora Health Pixel Tracking Class Action Settlement

In October 2022, Advocate Aurora Health, Inc., a non-profit healthcare system operating 26 hospitals and roughly 500 care sites across Illinois and Wisconsin, publicly disclosed that it had previously used third-party internet tracking technologies, commonly called "pixels," on its websites, its LiveWell application, and its MyChart patient portal.

The Lyon Firm was among the earliest firms in the country to investigate and pursue healthcare pixel tracking litigation of this kind, helping to establish the legal framework that gave rise to a nationwide wave of similar class actions against healthcare providers. Joseph Lyon and The Lyon Firm contributed across all phases of the Advocate Aurora pixel litigation, including pre-suit investigation, drafting the initial and amended complaints, opposing the defendant's motion to dismiss, preparing and propounding discovery, mediation preparation, and the settlement negotiations that produced the recovery for the class.

In the Second Amended Consolidated Class Action Complaint, filed in In re Advocate Aurora Health Pixel Litigation (Case No. 2:22-cv-1253-JPS), plaintiffs claimed that these tracking technologies may have resulted in the disclosure of patient information to third-party vendors, including Meta Platforms, Inc. (Facebook) and Google LLC. The disclosures were alleged to have potentially impacted at least three million individuals who visited Advocate's digital platforms between October 24, 2017 and October 22, 2022, a class period spanning nearly five years of patient interactions across the defendant's online healthcare tools.

Advocate Aurora represented that the pixels had been disabled and removed upon discovery and that an internal investigation had been launched promptly. The defendant maintained throughout the litigation that its use of tracking tools was consistent with widespread industry practice at the time, and that any disclosures were unintentional.

The asserted causes of action included:

• Negligence
• Invasion of privacy
• Breach of contract
• Breach of confidence
• Unjust enrichment
• Violations of the privacy standards established under HIPAA
• Claims under applicable Wisconsin and Illinois privacy and consumer protection statutes

The settlement established a non-reversionary $12,225,000 common fund to resolve all claims on behalf of the class, with these key terms:

• Settlement class: all U.S. residents whose personal or health information was or may have been disclosed to a third party through any tracking pixel on the defendant's websites, LiveWell app, or MyChart portal between October 24, 2017 and October 22, 2022.
• Cash payments: eligible class members who submitted a valid and timely claim form received a pro-rata cash payment from the net settlement fund, with estimated individual payments of up to $50 per claim, subject to pro-rata adjustment.

Judge J.P. Stadtmueller presided over the final approval hearing and issued final approval of the settlement on July 10, 2024.

This settlement constitutes a resolution of disputed legal claims only. It does not represent an admission of fault, liability, or wrongdoing on the part of Advocate Aurora Health, Inc., nor does it reflect any judicial finding that the defendant engaged in unlawful conduct or violated any federal or state law. Settlement results depend on the facts and circumstances of each case, and past results are not a guarantee or prediction of the result of any other case.