TJX to pay $9.75m for data theft costs
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NEW YORK - The parent company of retailers T.J. Maxx and Marshall’s will pay $9.75 million in a settlement with several states related to a data theft that exposed tens of millions of payment card numbers.
Framingham-based TJX Cos. said yesterday that it will pay $2.5 million to create a data security fund for states, plus a settlement amount of $5.5 million and $1.75 million to cover expenses related to the states’ investigations. But TJX stressed it “firmly believes’’ it did not violate any consumer-protection or data-security laws.
TJX said the settlement’s costs are already accounted for in a 2007 reserve it created. According to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as of May 2 - before the settlement was announced - the reserve was $39.5 million, the company’s estimate of the total potential costs related to the breach.
The breach, disclosed in January 2007, exposed at least 45.7 million credit and debit cards to possible fraud.
