Judge allows consumers' claims against Target to continue

Target
Shoppers arrive at a Target store in Los Angeles on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2013.
Damian Dovarganes / AP 2013

A federal judge in St. Paul ruled Thursday that consumers suing Target for last year's data breach can move forward with most of their claims.

Target officials say cyber criminals stole financial and personal data for tens of millions of consumers last November and December. But they say the retailer was not to blame.

U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson ruled that the consumers' lawyers could proceed with the majority of their claims based on the consumer protection laws in certain states. But he dismissed some claims based on the laws of other states.

Target also faces lawsuits from banks hit by the data breach.

Plaintiffs' attorneys are prodding Target for as many as a million pages of documents, by one attorney's estimate.

Trials for the bank and consumer cases are not expected to start until at least 2016.