CLAIM AGAINST THE CITY OF OAKLAND

Please return the completed form to the Office of the City Attorney, One
Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, 6th Floor, Oakland, CA 94612. Additional sheets
may be attached as necessary. Enclose a postage paid envelope if you
require a filing receipt.

Oakland Police Officers' Association, et al.

1) CLAIMANT’S NAME:_________________________________________
See attached
2) ADDRESS:____________________________City:____________________State:___________Zip:______________
HOME #:___________________________ DRIVER’S LICENSE:__________________________________________
WORK #:___________________________ SOCIAL SECURITY#:__________________________________________
CELL #:____________________________ COVERED BY MEDICARE? ____ IF YES, MEDICARE #:________________
DATE OF BIRTH:____________________ OCCUPATION:________________________________________________
AUTO INSURANCE NAME AND POLICY # ___________________________________________________________
(if applicable)

See attached
3) IF AMOUNT CLAIMED IS LESS THAN $10,000, AMOUNT OF CLAIM: $________________________________
(Attach copies of expenses substantiating the basis of computation for the amount being claimed)

IF AMOUNT CLAIMED EXCEEDS $10,000, WOULD THE CLAIM BE A LIMITED CIVIL CASE (Less than $25,000)?
Yes _____ No _______ Unsure _______

4) ADDRESS TO WHICH NOTICES ARE TO BE SENT, IF DIFFERENT FROM LINES 1 & 2: N/A

NAME:____________________________________________________________________________________________

ADDRESS:____________________________City:____________________State:___________Zip:__________________

PHONE#____________________________

See attached
5) DATE OF INCIDENT:__________________________ See attached
TIME OF INCIDENT:_______________________________

SPECIFIC LOCATION OF INCIDENT* (Address):________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________
6) DESCRIBE THE INCIDENT INCLUDING YOUR REASON FOR BELIEVING THE CITY
IS LIABLE FOR YOUR DAMAGES: See attached

7) DESCRIBE ALL DAMAGES WHICH YOU BELIEVE YOU HAVE INCURRED AS A RESULT
See attached
OF THE INCIDENT: _____

See attached
8) NAME(S) OF PUBLIC EMPLOYEE(S) CAUSING THE DAMAGES YOU ARE CLAIMING: __________________
See attached
9) WERE PARAMEDICS CALLED? ______________
10) IF YOU WENT TO A DOCTOR, LIST THE NAME, ADDRESS & TELEPHONE NUMBER:
N/A
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Date of 1st Visit:_________________________________ Is there a police report on file?____________________________

X March 30, 2023

X _____________________________________
Signature of Claimant or Representative Date

**Complete the diagram on the back of this form showing the location of the incident**
Any person who, with the intent to defraud, presents any false or fraudulent claim may be punished by imprisonment or fine or both.
Claims must be filed within 6 months of the incident. See Government Code §§ 900 et seq.* (Revised 11/01/18)
224649v6
 PLEASE READ CAREFULLY
If claim is for injury and you are still under doctor’s care, indicate that on the form and submit medical
bills to date with status of your condition. If property damage is involved, submit two estimates of repairs or
paid invoices to substantiate amount claimed. If the accident involved a vehicle, give the following information:

LICENSE NO.:______________________ YEAR/MAKE OF THE VEHICLE:________________________

For all auto accident claims, place on the following diagram the names of streets, including North, East, South
and West; indicate the place of the accident by an “X" and by showing house numbers or distances to street corners. If
a City vehicle was involved, designate by letter “A” the location of the city vehicle when you first saw it, and by “B”
the location of yourself or your vehicle at the time;

If your claim involves some other type of incident, use the diagram below to indicate the location where the
incident occurred, showing addresses, landmarks or a photograph if necessary depicting the exact site. Failure to
complete the diagram or provide a photo of the site may result in delays in the acceptance of your claim as sufficient
according to CA Government Code §§ 900 et seq.

224649v6
 1 ATTACHMENT TO CLAIM AGAINST THE CITY OF OAKLAND

2 1. Claimant’s Name
3 Oakland Police Officers’ Association (“POA”), on behalf of all members of the POA
4 employed by the City as of the date of the filing of this Claim.
5 2. Address:
6 For purposes of this Claim, Claimant may be contacted through its attorney, Rockne A.
7 Lucia, Jr., of Rains Lucia Stern St. Phalle & Silver, P.C., 2300 Contra Costa Blvd., Suite 500,
8 Pleasant Hill, CA 94523. Telephone: 925-609-1699. Email: RLucia@rlslawyers.com,
9 ZLopes@rlslawyers.com.
10 3. Amount of Claim:
11 Monetary damages exceed $25,000, will not be a limited civil case.
12 In addition to monetary damages, Claimant seeks other forms of relief including, but
13 not limited to, injunctive relief such as the provision of credit monitoring services, bank
14 monitoring services, credit restoration services, and identity theft insurance.
15 4. N/A
16 5. Date of Incident:
17 Incident began on or about February 8, 2023, but is on-going. Incident occurred in the
18 City of Oakland, CA.
19 6. Describe the Incident Including Your Reason For Believing The City Is Liable For
20 Your Damages:
21 A. The City’s Refusal to Implement Adequate Information Security
22 The City has long failed and refused to implement reasonable, industry-standard
23 security protocols for its information systems. This failure is documented. For example, the
24 City has been warned repeatedly – and recently – that it has “significant deficiencies” in the
25 security of its information technology systems. The City’s Fiscal Year 2020-2021 Annual
26 Comprehensive Financial Report (“ACFR”) – delivered to the City Council in March of 2022 –
27 specifically identified “weaknesses within the City’s information security program,” including
28 outdated policies and procedures, a lack of risk assessment and testing programs, and a failure

1
RAINS LUCIA STERN ATTACHMENT TO CLAIM AGAINST THE CITY OF OAKLAND FORM
ST. PHALLE & SILVER, PC
 1 to appropriately staff and fund its information technology security capabilities, all of which

2 leave the City “exposed to threats from ransomware attacks, cyberattacks, and other threats.”

3 (ACFR 2020-2021, Attachment B, Recommendation 2021-002 “Significant Deficiency in

4 Internal Control Information Technology Program.”) Indeed, the ACFR notes that prior years’

5 audits revealed the same – and uncorrected – deficiencies leading to a heightened and

6 unaddressed risk of information technology security threats.

7 B. The Incident

8 Beginning on or about February 8, 2023, the City’s information technology (“IT”)

9 systems were breached by an “unauthorized third party.” The breach resulted in the

10 unauthorized release of all of the POA’s members’ confidential and sensitive information

11 maintained by the City, including but not limited to: POA member names, addresses, social

12 security numbers, driver’s license numbers, passport information, bank account information,

13 credit card information, and other confidential and sensitive information maintained by the City

14 as the POA’s members’ employer.

15 On or about March 3, 2023, the City announced that it had “become aware” that the

16 “unauthorized third party” which came into possession of the POA’s members’ confidential

17 and sensitive information had the “intent[] to release the information publicly.” Within days

18 after the City’s announcement, the unauthorized third party began releasing the obtained

19 confidential and sensitive information for several POA members.

20 Shortly thereafter, several POA members began experiencing adverse impacts to their

21 personal and financial security. For example, several POA members were notified by credit

22 monitoring entities that credit cards were being fraudulently opened and/or attempted to be

23 fraudulently opened in their names, using the confidential information obtained and publicly

24 disseminated by the unauthorized third party. Several POA members have suffered other

25 adverse consequences to their financial security, such as being denied use of credit.

26 POA members will continue to suffer adverse consequences into the foreseeable future

27 for several years.

28 //

2
RAINS LUCIA STERN ATTACHMENT TO CLAIM AGAINST THE CITY OF OAKLAND FORM
ST. PHALLE & SILVER, PC
 1 C. Why The City Is Liable

2 The breach and public dissemination of the POA’s members’ confidential and sensitive

3 information was a foreseeable consequence of the City’s failure and refusal to implement

4 reasonable, adequate, and industry-standard information security protocols. The City had been

5 explicitly warned – at least twice – that its information technology security had “significant

6 deficiencies” which exposed the City to attacks of the exact sort that occurred causing the

7 POA’s members’ harm, yet the City recklessly and negligently failed and refused to address

8 these warnings. Even Councilmembers have publicly commented that the City’s failure to

9 implement proper security systems is what caused the breach to occur.1

10 The City has a legal duty to safeguard its employees’ confidential and sensitive

11 information. The POA’s members were required as a condition of employment to provide their

12 confidential and sensitive information to the City. Accordingly, the City and each POA

13 member have a “special relationship,” such that the City has an affirmative legal duty to protect

14 that information from unauthorized disclosure and dissemination. The City’s conduct

15 constitutes a negligent and reckless disregard of this legal duty, which caused the POA’s

16 members’ harm.

17 Because the POA’s members were required as a condition of employment to provide

18 their confidential and sensitive information to the City, the City and each POA member also are

19 parties to an implied contract imposing on the City an obligation to protect that information

20 from unauthorized disclosure and dissemination. The City’s conduct breached that contract.

21 The City’s conduct has also violated every POA members’ right to informational

22 privacy guaranteed by the Constitutions of the United States and State of California.

23 //

24 //

25 //

26

27
1
“Social Security, Bank Info of Oakland Employees, Business May Be Compromised In Ransomware Leak,”
28 ABC7 Bay Area, March 7, 2023 [“Q: Did the City not have the proper anti-virus software protections in place?”
Councilmember Noel Gallo: “It appears that’s what happened”].)

3
RAINS LUCIA STERN ATTACHMENT TO CLAIM AGAINST THE CITY OF OAKLAND FORM
ST. PHALLE & SILVER, PC
 1 7. Describe All Damages Which You Believe You Have Incurred As A Result Of The

2 Incident:

3 As a result of the City’s conduct, the POA’s members have suffered, and are at an

4 increased risk of suffering, economic harm and identify theft. For example, the POA’s

5 members have been forced to incur immediate and on-going economic damages associated

6 with: maintaining a membership in credit and identity theft protection services, engaging

7 services to remedy specific instances of credit and identity theft, and lost opportunity to acquire

8 credit at rates they otherwise would have qualified for absent the damage to their credit caused

9 by the City’s conduct. Such economic damages will be imposed for several years into the

10 future.

11 Moreover, the POA’s members have suffered other general and non-economic damages

12 in an amount to be decided by a trier of fact.

13 8. Name(s) of Public Employee(s) Causing The Damages You Are Claiming:

14 Unknown at this time. Will be ascertained in formal proceedings.

15 9. Were Paramedics Called?

16 No.

17 10. N/A

18

19 Dated: March 30, 2023 Respectfully submitted,

20 RAINS LUCIA STERN
21 ST. PHALLE & SILVER, PC

22
_______ _____________________
23 By: Rockne A. Lucia, Jr.
Attorneys for Claimant OAKLAND
24 POLICE OFFICERS’ ASSOCIATION
25

26

27

28

4
RAINS LUCIA STERN ATTACHMENT TO CLAIM AGAINST THE CITY OF OAKLAND FORM
ST. PHALLE & SILVER, PC
 1 PROOF OF SERVICE
2 I am employed in the City of Pleasant Hill, State of California. I am over 18 years of
age and not a party to this action. My business address is Rains Lucia Stern St. Phalle & Silver,
3 PC, 2300 Contra Costa Blvd., Suite 500, Pleasant Hill, California 94523.
4 On the date below I served a true copy of the following document(s):
5
CLAIM AGAINST THE CITY OF OAKLAND
6

7 on the interested parties to said action by the following means:

8 X (BY E-MAIL or ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION) Based on a court order or an
agreement of the parties to accept service by e-mail or electronic transmission, I
9 caused the documents to be sent to the persons at the e-mail addresses listed below. I
did not receive, within a reasonable period of time, after the transmission, any
10 electronic message or other indication that the transmission was unsuccessful.
11 Office of the City Attorney
12 One Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, 6th Floor
Oakland, CA 94612
13 claims@oaklandcityattorney.org

14

15

16 I declare under penalty of perjury under the law of the State of California that the
foregoing is true and correct.
17
DATED: March 30, 2023 _____________________________________
18
Tracy Watson
19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

5
RAINS LUCIA STERN ATTACHMENT TO CLAIM AGAINST THE CITY OF OAKLAND FORM
ST. PHALLE & SILVER, PC