Lee University Settlement: Claim Window Closed, Hearing Sept 30

At a glance

Status

Pending final approval

Defendant

Lee University

Settlement fund

$1,750,000

Claim deadline

August 19, 2026

No-proof cash option

Yes — Cash Payment B - estimated $100 payment, subject to pro rata adjustment, no documentation required, or up to Cash Payment A - up to $5,000 in documented out-of-pocket losses; plus 1 year of one-bureau credit monitoring for all claimants

Max documented payout

$5,000

Administrator

Kroll Settlement Administration LLC

Official site

www.leeuniversitydatabreachsettlement.com

Court

United States District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee

Case number

1:25-cv-107 (Harris et al. v. Lee University), No. 1:25-cv-107

Last verified September 9, 2026

Key dates

Milestone	Date	What it means
Claim deadline	August 19, 2026(passed)	Last day to file for a payment
Opt-out (exclusion) deadline	August 4, 2026(passed)	Last day to leave the settlement and keep the right to sue
Objection deadline	August 4, 2026(passed)	Last day to object to the terms
Final approval hearing	September 30, 2026	When the judge decides whether to approve the settlement
Expected payout	Not yet scheduled	Payments are not sent until after final approval and any appeals

Where to file

Lee University Data Breach Settlement (Harris v. Lee University) is administered by Kroll Settlement Administration LLC. The only place to file is the official settlement website:

Verify on the official site

www.leeuniversitydatabreachsettlement.com

Filing is free. No legitimate settlement charges a fee to file a claim.

You cannot file on RecordingLaw.com. We are an independent publisher, not the settlement administrator, and we are not affiliated with any court, agency, or defendant.

Lee University, a private university in Cleveland, Tennessee, is the defendant in a class action settlement over a data security incident the school discovered in March 2024. According to Lee University's breach notification, more than 130,000 people were notified that their personal information may have been exposed.

The claim window for the Lee University Data Breach Settlement (Harris v. Lee University) closed on August 19, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET. As of September 9, 2026, the settlement is awaiting the court's final approval decision, and the official settlement site is the place to check the status of a claim you already filed.

What happened

Lee University discovered a data security incident in March 2024 involving its computer systems. After investigating, the university determined that personal information belonging to certain individuals may have been exposed, and it sent breach notification letters to the people it identified as affected, more than 130,000 according to that notification.

That group is broad. A university's records typically touch current and former students, alumni, applicants, and employees, so people in any of those categories could have received a notice. If you got a letter from Lee University about this incident, you are very likely a member of the settlement class described below.

Where the settlement stands right now

The case is pending as Harris et al. v. Lee University, case number 1:25-cv-107, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. A final approval hearing is scheduled for September 30, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. ET, in Courtroom 3 of the Joel W. Solomon Federal Building in Chattanooga.

As of September 9, 2026, no payout date has been set. That is normal at this stage. Courts generally grant final approval before an administrator calculates and mails payments, so a case whose claim window has closed but whose approval hearing has not yet been held does not yet have a payment timeline.

Two other deadlines have already passed, and they are not the same thing. The deadline to exclude yourself from the settlement, also called opting out, was August 4, 2026. Opting out means leaving the class entirely: you keep the right to sue Lee University on your own over this breach, but you give up any right to a payment from this settlement fund. The deadline to object was also August 4, 2026. Objecting means staying in the class while telling the court in writing that you think some part of the settlement is unfair. Opting out and objecting are different choices, not the same form.

Who's in the class

The class is defined by notice. It covers the people Lee University identified and notified about the March 2024 data breach, more than 130,000 according to the university's breach notification. That is the test that matters, not a guess about whether your information was technically involved.

If you received a letter or email from Lee University about this breach, you do not need to guess further. If you believe you should have received a notice and did not, the settlement administrator, Kroll Settlement Administration LLC, is the place to check your status through the official settlement website, not this article.

How much you might actually get

The settlement fund is $1,750,000. Every valid claim draws from that same pool, so payments are pro rata. The more people who file, the smaller each payment tends to be, and the final numbers are not locked in until claims close and the court approves fees and costs.

Most class members can choose Cash Payment B, a no-proof cash payment estimated at about $100. You do not need to submit documentation for this option, but like every figure on this page, it is an estimate, not a promise, and it can move up or down once claims are counted.

If you had actual, documented out-of-pocket losses connected to the breach, you can instead file for Cash Payment A, reimbursement of up to $5,000. You choose one option or the other, not both.

Cash is not the only benefit. Everyone who files a valid claim also receives one year of single-bureau credit monitoring, regardless of which cash option they pick. That monitoring is free and stacks on top of whichever payment you choose; it is something the settlement already owes you, not a product you need to buy from a third party.

What proof you need

For the no-proof cash payment, Cash Payment B, you do not submit documentation. A timely, valid claim form is what matters.

For the documented-loss option, Cash Payment A, up to the $5,000 cap, you will need records showing what you spent or lost because of the breach. That can include bank or credit card statements, receipts for identity-protection services you purchased because of the incident, or a written explanation you prepare describing what happened and when. The stronger your paper trail, the stronger that claim.

How to file

Filing was free, and it only ever happened on the official settlement website. Neither Lee University nor RecordingLaw reviews or processes claims. Kroll Settlement Administration LLC, the court-appointed administrator, handles that.

The deadline to submit a claim was August 19, 2026, and the administrator can no longer accept new claim forms. If you filed on time, the official settlement website run by Kroll is where to check the status of your claim. No legitimate part of this process will ever ask you to pay a fee to receive money you are owed.

Protect yourself, especially your medical identity

A breach at a university can expose more than people expect. In this case, the official settlement record identifies the categories of information involved: full names, Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers, government-issued ID numbers, financial information, and medical information. Not every category applies to every person notified; your notice letter from Lee University is the most reliable description of what was exposed in your case specifically.

Start with a free credit freeze at all three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. A freeze blocks new accounts from being opened in your name, and it is free to place and free to lift, at every bureau, every time. Do this before anything else on this page.

A credit freeze will not catch medical identity theft, though, because that is a different kind of misuse. Because medical information was among the categories exposed in this breach, if someone uses your stolen information to obtain medical care, prescriptions, or equipment in your name, it shows up on your health insurer's explanation-of-benefits statements, not your credit report. Go back through recent explanation-of-benefits statements and look for any visit, prescription, or service you do not recognize, and contact your insurer directly if you find one.

After that, use IdentityTheft.gov, the Federal Trade Commission's official recovery site, if you notice signs your information is being misused. It walks you through a free, personalized recovery plan. Keep watching your bank and credit card statements for months after a breach like this one, since fraud does not always show up right away.

If this isn't the breach you're looking for

Lee University is one of many organizations with a settlement moving through the courts right now. If you are checking whether a different notice letter or a different institution matches a settlement you can file against, RecordingLaw's data breach settlement tracker lists other currently open claims and their deadlines.