Partner Casie Collignon, Counsel Jason Orr and Associate Colby Everett collaborated for the second time in less than a year to defend Associated Wholesale Grocers Inc. (AWG) in a class action data breach case and garnering the same result – a dismissal for the client. Both were generated because of an October 2023 incident in which the personal information of 26,579 current and former AWG employees was disclosed, including names, birth dates and Social Security numbers.
The initial complaint, Jenkins v. Associated Wholesale Grocers, was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Daniel D. Crabtree on March 5, 2025, stating that the plaintiff lacked standing to pursue monetary, injunctive and declaratory relief. On Feb. 12, 2026, in the same Kansas courthouse, U.S. District Judge Eric F. Melgren dismissed the class action complaint, Patterson v. Associated Wholesale Grocers, finding that the plaintiff lacked standing to support the alleged injuries caused by the data breach – past and future identity theft; fear and anxiety; lost time, annoyance and inconvenience; and loss of privacy.
Collignon, Orr and Everett represented AWG in both instances.
