Students & staff launch uni lawsuit

A CASH-STRAPPED university where a fat cat boss spent more than £37,000 on luxury foreign junkets is facing a class action lawsuit following a massive data breach.

- 

The University of the West of Scotland (UWS) is facing a claim after more than a million documents containing personal information belonging to students and staff was stolen and put up for auction by an extortion cybergang in July 2023.

The university could now face paying out thousands of pounds in compensation as legal firm Thompsons Solicitors Scotland mounts a legal case with more than 50 claimants for failing to keep personal data safe.

The legal action could result in further financial implications for UWS, where staff voted in favour of industrial action in an indicative ballot over possible compulsory redundancies after the uni recorded a £14.4million deficit in 2023-24.