Outed cheaters seeking legal revenge against Ashley Madison — including at least one “Jane Doe” from New York — will have to reveal their real names if they want to sue the infidelity site, a Missouri judge recently ruled.
The 42 plaintiffs whose confidential information was divulged as a result of a massive data breach of the infidelity site last year wanted to use pseudonyms in their litigation against Ashley Madison.
The hack affected 37 million customers, some of whom relied on the site’s $19 “full delete” option — which didn’t actually erase users’ information.
The dozens of unidentified plaintiffs wanted their names to remain under wraps “to reduce the risk of potentially catastrophic personal and professional consequences that could befall them and their families” should they become public, court papers say.
Their lawyers added the plaintiffs had a “reasonable fear of severe harm from litigating without pseudonyms” in asking Missouri federal Judge John Ross to use the fictitious names.
But in an order dated April 6, Ross sided with Avid Dating Life, the Toronto-based company that runs Ashley Madison, in finding that there were no “rare and exceptional circumstances” in this case to warrant using pseudonyms.
Avid also successfully argued that some plaintiffs have filed suit under their real names, which Ross said weakens the others plaintiffs’ bid for confidentiality, court papers say.
Now, plaintiffs have until June 3 to decide whether to forge ahead with the suit under their real names — instead of “John Doe” or “Jane Doe” — or drop the litigation altogether.
The sweeping lawsuit is based in Missouri and includes plaintiff “Jane Doe,” who lives in New York, according to her original complaint filed late last year in Manhattan federal court.
The massive data dump has spurred marital split-ups and suicides — and even ensnared Ashley Madison CEO Noel Biderman, who stepped down last August after he allegedly lied in flirtatious emails about cheating on his wife.