Preliminary Reimbursement Approval for ‘Interview’ Hacking Granted: Each Sony Employee will get up to $10,000

A US judge has granted preliminary approval of reimbursement for 'The Interview' caused hacking damage between Sony and its employees. Each former and present employee will get up to $10,000 to cover identity theft related costs. Around 2014, cyber-attack happened in Sony's computers and the company and its staffs got immensely affected.

As BBC news reported, in an attempt to cease the release of North Korean-focused comedy 'The Interview', the Hackers called, "Guardians of Peace" broke into Sony computers in November. For the security breach, US government alleged North Korea.

The hackers managed to gain access to Sony's network and stole a plethora of significant information. The internal information includes online distribution of emails, copies of films which were yet to be released like 'Annie' as well as sensitive personnel data like social security numbers.

According to Hunt News, one of the highest-profile victims of the cyber-attack was Sony's co-chairperson Amy Pascal, one of the most influential women in Hollywood. She is also one of the champions of the film The Interview and among her leaked emails was one reportedly commenting on the watching habits of President Obama in a belittling manner.

In December 2014, the employees of Sony, those who were affected by the hacking, sued the company by holding it responsible for being incompetent in protecting the personal information of its workforce. In June, Judge Klausner rejected Sony's effort to dismiss the charge. He stated that the employees could pursue their claims where they accused that Sony was negligent and violated a California confidentiality law.

Under the deal, in order to reimburse employees for identity theft losses, Sony will pay up to $2.5 million or $10,000 per person. The company will also pay up to $2 million or $1,000 per person for taking protective measures after the cyber-attack.

According to court papers, Sony has also agreed to pay up to $3.49 million for covering up the legal fees and costs. However, the settlement needed to be approved by U.S. District Judge Gary Klausner.  Additionally, Sony would arrange for identity protection to former employees for two years.

On Monday, the settlement between the Sony Corp unit and present and former personnel was revealed in papers filed in the federal court of Los Angeles. While the security breach was an epic nightmare for Sony staffs as they mentioned, Sony or lawyers involved in the case remained unavailable for comment.

As per NBC News report, U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner scheduled a final approval hearing for March after providing the preliminary approval on Friday.

As investigators think, 'The Interview' studio release of North-Korea set comedy is the sole reason for this cyber-attack. Seth Rogen and James Franco were the main protagonists. The story illustrated the fictional assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

After the hacking, Sony postponed the movie's wide theatrical release. Later on, it appeared in November drawing international attention. Much later, the movie was available through digital downloads.