Multiple U.S. Class Actions Target Coupang Over Data Breach, Stock Losses

Kyeongjun Kim
By Kyeongjun Kim

Multiple class action lawsuits have been filed in the United States against Coupang Inc. following a large-scale customer data breach in South Korea, drawing growing attention as major law firms join the legal fight.

Coupang class action lawsuit coverage with Coupang logo shown in illustration
The Coupang logo is shown in an illustration as the company faces multiple U.S. class action lawsuits over alleged data breach disclosures. Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

After SJKP, the U.S. affiliate of South Korean law firm Daeryun, first announced plans on December 8 to pursue a class action against Coupang Inc., other large law firms have since rushed to file complaints.

The law firm Hagens Berman submitted a complaint to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against Coupang Inc., Bom Kim, chair of the board, and Gaurav Anand, chief financial officer, seeking to hold them responsible for losses caused by a decline in the company’s share price. The firm is currently recruiting class members, stating that investors who purchased Coupang shares between August 6 and December 16 last year are eligible to participate.

Hagens Berman has previously filed class action lawsuits against major corporations including Hyundai Motor Group, Samsung Electronics, and Amazon.

The firm alleges that Coupang misled investors regarding the personal data breach and also raised questions about whether the company complied with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules requiring disclosure of material incidents within four days of occurrence.

On January 7, another class action lawsuit against Coupang was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. The plaintiffs are listed as Korean investors Hak-rae Lee and Min-gyun Park. South Korean law firm With the People and major U.S. law firms Saxena White, Hausfeld, and Keller Rohrback have joined the plaintiffs’ legal team.

The plaintiffs argue that Coupang falsely or inadequately disclosed key information related to cybersecurity and information management in its periodic filings with the SEC, specifically its Form 10-Q reports.

They further contend that while Coupang stated—based on external assessments—that cybersecurity threats were unlikely to have a material impact, the recent data breach suggests that the company concealed serious security vulnerabilities, amounting to a de facto false disclosure.

BY KYEONGJUN KIM [kim.kyeongjun1@koreadaily.com]

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