Penalty Amount
$49,000,000
Consumers Affected
7,700
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, alongside six county district attorneys, announced a $49 million settlement with Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals resolving allegations of unlawful disposal of hazardous waste, medical waste, and protected patient health information. Investigations of 16 Kaiser facilities found hundreds of hazardous and medical waste items and over 10,000 paper records containing data of more than 7,700 patients in unsecured dumpsters. The settlement requires Kaiser to pay up to $49 million in penalties and compliance costs, retain an independent auditor for five years of regular audits, and implement enhanced waste and data disposal procedures.
Kaiser must pay up to $49 million total, including $37.513 million in civil penalties, $4.832 million in attorneys’ fees and costs, $4.905 million for supplemental environmental projects, and up to an additional $1.75 million in civil penalties if it fails to spend $3.5 million on enhanced environmental compliance measures within 5 years. Kaiser must retain an independent third-party auditor approved by the AG and district attorneys to conduct 520 trash compactor audits and 40 programmatic field audits annually for 5 years to evaluate compliance. Kaiser must also implement enhanced compliance measures and modified operating procedures to ensure proper disposal of waste and protected health information.
In-house legal teams at healthcare entities should prioritize reviewing vendor agreements with waste disposal, document destruction, and third-party audit providers to ensure compliance with HIPAA and state medical information laws. Waste disposal contracts should include clauses mandating secure disposal of protected health information (PHI), regular compliance audits, and penalties for improper disposal of medical or hazardous waste. Agreements with third-party auditors must align with the settlement’s requirements for audit frequency, scope, and reporting to state enforcement agencies. Internal compliance program clauses in vendor and employment agreements should be updated to require regular staff training on proper PHI and waste disposal, and breach notification clauses should be revised to ensure timely reporting of unauthorized PHI disclosures, including improper disposal incidents. Contracts with environmental compliance vendors should also include requirements for implementing enhanced compliance measures and spending thresholds tied to penalty avoidance as outlined in the settlement.
Entity
Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals
Industry
HealthcareOfficial Press Release
https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-announces-49-million-settlement-kaiser-illegal-disposal
kaiser complaint.pdf?
https://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/privacy/kaiser_complaint.pdf?
kaiser stipulation.pdf?
https://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/privacy/kaiser_stipulation.pdf?
KP Compl Filed 090823
https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/KP%20Compl%20Filed%20090823.pdf
Proposed stipulated judgment
https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/Proposed%20stipulated%20judgment.pdf
California Attorney General Enforcement Page
https://oag.ca.gov/privacy/privacy-enforcement-actions
"Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals (collectively “Kaiser”)"
"Kaiser will be liable for a total of $49 million"
"Friday, September 8, 2023"
"unlawfully disposed of hazardous waste, medical waste, and protected patient information at Kaiser facilities statewide"
"violate California’s Hazardous Waste Control Law, Medical Waste Management Act, Confidentiality of Medical Information Act, Customer Records Law, and Unfair Competition Law"
"federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, known as HIPAA"
The California Privacy Protection Agency announced that the California State Legislature approved the Expanding Privacy Rights Act (SB 923), which expands the CCPA's right to delete to cover all non-exempt personal information a business holds about a consumer, including data originally collected from third parties. The bill also requires online-only businesses with a direct relationship to consumers to provide online methods, such as webforms, for submitting access, deletion, and correction requests, and expressly permits businesses to retain suppression lists so deleted information stays deleted. The bill, authored by Senator Becker and sponsored by CalPrivacy, now goes to the Governor for consideration.
A bipartisan coalition of 33 state attorneys general, led by Minnesota AG Keith Ellison, began trial against Meta Platforms, Inc., alleging the company knowingly designed and deployed harmful features on Facebook and Instagram that drive children and teens to use the platforms compulsively, while falsely assuring parents and the public that its platforms were safe for young users. The states also allege Meta illegally collected personal information from children under 13 without parental consent, violating COPPA. The trial opened before Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, with the states seeking monetary penalties and injunctive relief.
A coalition of 12 state attorneys general, led by Colorado AG Phil Weiser, obtained a temporary restraining order from a federal court in California to halt the proposed $110 billion merger of Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. by Paramount Skydance Corporation. The lawsuit alleges the merger violates Section 7 of the Clayton Act by substantially lessening competition in film distribution, anticipated blockbuster film distribution, and licensing cable TV channels.
The California Privacy Protection Agency (CalPrivacy) joined a coalition of 18 Attorneys General and state agencies in opposing the proposed SECURE Data Act, a federal privacy bill that would preempt stronger state privacy laws like the CCPA. The coalition argues the bill would weaken consumer privacy protections, limit enforcement remedies, and undermine California's Delete Request and Opt-out Platform (DROP).
A bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general began trial against Meta Platforms, Inc., alleging the company knowingly designed addictive features on Facebook and Instagram that harm children and teens, deceived parents about platform safety, and illegally collected personal information from children under 13 without parental consent in violation of COPPA. The states seek monetary penalties, an injunction to stop unlawful practices, and other relief. The trial is being litigated in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
$12.8M
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, along with multiple district attorneys and the California Privacy Protection Agency, announced a $12.75 million settlement with General Motors for illegally selling hundreds of thousands of Californians' location and driving data to data brokers Verisk and LexisNexis without notice or consent. The settlement includes the largest CCPA penalty to date, a five-year ban on selling driving data to consumer reporting agencies, and requirements to delete retained data and implement a robust privacy program.