Partner
Woods Lonergan PLLC is a nationally recognized complex commercial and civil litigation firm that represents clients in select data breach class actions nationwide. Our attorneys have a proven record of holding national corporations and essential infrastructure providers accountable when failures in cybersecurity expose the most sensitive personal information of employees, partners, and consumers.
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Call Our Data Breach Lawyers 24/7 at (332) 378-0376 or email loganlowe@woodslaw.com for a free and confidential consultation. Woods Lonergan takes no fees unless we win.
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Who Was Impacted by the WEL Companies Data Breach?
The WEL Companies, Inc. data breach affects 122,960 individuals across the United States. WEL Companies is a major transportation, logistics, and refrigerated warehousing company, headquartered in De Pere, Wisconsin. The victims are primarily drawn from those whose data is required for employment and regulatory compliance across their national network, including trucking terminals in Wisconsin, Illinois, Oklahoma, Georgia, Florida, and Pennsylvania, as well as cold storage warehouse locations in De Pere and Edgar (WI), Joliet (IL), Allentown (PA), McDonough (GA), and Winter Haven (FL).
Potential data breach victims include:
- Current and Former Employees
- Truck Drivers and Logistics Carriers (both contracted and employed)
- Business Partners whose sensitive data was held for operational purposes
Compromised Data Stolen by the RansomHub Group
The data acquired by the cybercriminals includes highly sensitive Personally Identifiable Information (PII) that enables long-term identity theft and financial fraud:
- Social Security Numbers (SSNs)
- Driver’s License or State ID Numbers
- Names and Dates of Birth
- Non-U.S. National ID Numbers (suggesting the exposure of international personnel or contractor data)
The combined theft of SSNs and Driver’s License numbers creates a “full identity kit” that is extremely dangerous in the hands of sophisticated cybercriminals.
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Call Our Data Breach Lawyers 24/7 at (332) 378-0376 or email loganlowe@woodslaw.com for a free and confidential consultation. Woods Lonergan takes no fees unless we win.
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WEL Companies Data Breach Investigation Update
According to official filings with the Office of the Maine Attorney General, the WEL Companies data breach was reported on November 19, 2025, affecting a total of 122,960 individuals nationwide.
“When a company waits nearly ten months to tell its own employees and drivers that their Social Security numbers are in the hands of ransomware criminals, it isn’t just a compliance failure—it is a betrayal of trust. By the time these letters arrived in November, the damage could have already been done. Our goal is to ensure WEL Companies answers for why they left 122,000 people in the dark while their most sensitive data was at risk.”
— Annie Causey, Partner at Woods Lonergan PLLC
What You Should Do If You Received a WEL Companies Data Breach Letter
If you received a data breach notification letter from WEL Companies, your personal data is already on the dark web or is at severe risk of misuse.
Call Our Data Breach Lawyers 24/7 at (332) 378-0376 or email loganlowe@woodslaw.com for a free and confidential consultation. Woods Lonergan takes no fees unless we win.
Our Data Breach Litigation Team is committed to ensuring victims of the WEL Companies Data Breach receive the compensation they deserve.
The Security Incident: Why Did WEL Companies Wait Nearly 10 Months to Notify Victims?
Our investigation reveals a concerning timeline that forms the basis of negligence claims against WEL Companies:
- Initial Detection: WEL Companies first identified unusual network activity on January 31, 2025.
- Data Acquisition Confirmed: Their forensic investigation confirmed that unauthorized files were accessed and stolen on March 28, 2025.
- Victim Notification: WEL Companies did not conclude its review of the stolen files and mail breach notification letters to the 122,960 victims until November 18, 2025.
This nearly 10-month gap between the date the sensitive data was breached and the date victims were notified raises concern regarding WEL’s post-incident diligence.
State data breach notification laws require companies to notify affected parties “as soon as reasonably practicable”. By delaying notification for nearly a year, WEL Companies deprived victims of the critical, timely information necessary to implement fraud alerts, freeze credit, and proactively protect themselves, thereby exacerbating the risk of lifelong identity theft.
The Threat Actor: RansomHub
The security incident has been definitively attributed to the RansomHub ransomware group. RansomHub is recognized as a sophisticated Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) operation that frequently targets large entities, often within Critical Infrastructure sectors such as the transportation and logistics industry in which WEL Companies operates. The threat group asserted that they obtained approximately 189 GB of WEL Companies data, indicating the immediate risk of the affected records being published or otherwise exploited on the dark web.
Alleged Failure of Reasonable Security Measures
As a major transportation and logistics provider operating a substantial fleet, WEL Companies operates within a critical sector and is entrusted with highly sensitive personal data. This position necessitates implementing robust security measures that are proportionate to the known, high-level threat landscape. The successful attack by a sophisticated group like RansomHub suggests a potential failure to implement security measures commensurate with this heightened duty of care owed to its personnel and partners.
What Legal Rights Do Victims of the WEL Companies Data Breach Have?
Woods Lonergan is actively investigating this matter with the goal of filing a class action lawsuit against WEL Companies, Inc., alleging multiple causes of action:
- Negligence / Gross Negligence: Failure to implement reasonable security safeguards and gross negligence in the subsequent, nearly 10-month, delayed response to the data theft.
- Negligence Per Se: Violation of state data breach notification laws that require prompt notification of affected individuals.
- Breach of Implied Contract: WEL compelled current and former truck drivers and employees to entrust the company with highly sensitive PII (SSNs, DLs) as a condition of employment/engagement, implicitly guaranteeing its protection.
- Unjust Enrichment: WEL retained financial benefits by failing to invest adequately in robust, necessary cybersecurity measures, directly resulting in the class members’ injuries.
The law firm seeks to recover compensation for the loss of privacy, permanent identity theft risk, and time and money spent by victims mitigating fraud and protecting their credit.
About Woods Lonergan PLLC
Woods Lonergan PLLC is a nationally recognized litigation firm with over 30 years of experience representing clients in complex commercial and civil disputes, as well as class actions and data privacy matters, in courts nationwide. Our business dispute attorneys have a long-standing track record of success in New York’s state and federal courts, including the Commercial Division of the New York Supreme Court and the Appellate Division, and are regularly retained to litigate high-stakes matters involving multi-million dollar claims across a wide range of industries and sectors with significant business impact.
Unlike much larger law firms, Woods Lonergan ensures that every case is directly handled by seasoned trial attorneys with decades of courtroom experience. From strategy to courtroom, your matter is led by experienced litigation counsel—not by a rotating team of junior lawyers—so you receive focused, senior-level representation from start to finish.
Our attorneys have been recognized for their work in commercial disputes and real estate litigation by Chambers USA, Super Lawyers, and the Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent® rating—the highest possible distinction for legal ability and ethical standards.
Contact Our Data Breach Litigation Team
If you’ve been affected by the WEL Companies data breach, you may be entitled to compensation. Reach out to us for a free and confidential consultation. Woods Lonergan’s expert data breach lawyers are skilled at securing the affected parties the justice they deserve. Call us 24/7 at (332) 378-0376– we take no fees unless you win.
Resources & Further Reading
- Maine Attorney General Report: Data Breach Notification (WEL Companies, Inc.)
- New Hampshire Department of Justice: Data Breach Security Incidents 2025