J.B. Hunt data breach lawsuit (Hunter v. J.B. Hunt Transport Services)

Current and former J.B. Hunt employees have filed at least four proposed class action lawsuits after a hacker group claimed it stole more than 140,000 employee records from the Lowell, Arkansas trucking company. The suits say names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers and financial information were exposed, and that J.B. Hunt did not protect the data or promptly warn the people affected.

The first case identified is Hunter v. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc., No. 5:26-cv-05301, filed October 27, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas. J.B. Hunt confirmed it is investigating a cybersecurity incident but has not said what data was taken or how many people were affected. The lawsuits are at the very start. There is no settlement, no claim form and no money available, and no court has decided whether the claims are true.

The defendant is J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc., a transportation and logistics company based in Lowell, Arkansas, that marked 65 years in business in August 2026. Its businesses include intermodal, dedicated, refrigerated, truckload, less-than-truckload, flatbed, last mile and transload operations, according to the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. The company reported third-quarter 2026 net income of $172.4 million on revenue of $3.68 billion.

The plaintiffs named in news reports so far are Aaron Hunter of Ellenwood, Georgia; Wendy Parnell of Bentonville, Arkansas; Shileen Lange of Richmond, Virginia; Kevin Manteufel of Neenah, Wisconsin; and Anthony Walker of Alma, Georgia, according to 5NEWS. Case details confirmed from court records and legal databases:

• Hunter v. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc., No. 5:26-cv-05301, filed October 27, 2026, with a jury demand. Hunter is represented by Randall Pulliam of Carney, Bates & Pulliam, PLLC, according to the docket.
• Parnell v. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc., No. 5:26-cv-05297, filed by the Sanford Law Firm, according to Law360's case listing. Lange is also represented by the Sanford Law Firm.
• Manteufel v. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc., No. 5:26-cv-05303, filed October 28, 2026, by Herzfeld Suetholz, according to Law360's case listing.

The Hunter and Manteufel cases are assigned to Judge David Clay Fowlkes. Case numbers for the Lange and Walker suits were not available when this page was published.

• October 23, 2026: a ransomware group calling itself Whitearmor posted on its dark web leak site that it had "140,838 employee records" from J.B. Hunt containing personal information and national identification numbers, the lawsuits say. The group demanded a $5 million ransom.
• October 26, 2026: the law firm Migliaccio & Rathod LLP announced it was investigating a possible J.B. Hunt data breach.
• October 27, 2026: Hunter, Parnell and Lange filed suit in the Fayetteville Division of the Western District of Arkansas.
• October 28, 2026: Manteufel filed suit in the same court.
• October 29, 2026: J.B. Hunt issued a statement confirming it was investigating a cybersecurity incident. 5NEWS reported at least four suits on file.

The Hunter complaint also says the hackers claimed to hold about 1.7 million carrier contacts, 38.2 million invoices, 187,000 access-permission records, 973 Microsoft 365 mailboxes and records about 374,000 organizations. The complaint notes those figures come from the hackers and have not been verified.

The plaintiffs say J.B. Hunt had a duty to protect the personal information of its employees and failed to do so. According to news coverage of the complaints, they argue the data should have been encrypted or better protected, that the breach was foreseeable and preventable, and that J.B. Hunt did not follow security practices recommended by the Federal Trade Commission. Several suits say the company had not notified affected people when they were filed. One suit says the defendant "failed to invest the resources necessary to protect the private information of plaintiffs and class members."

The claims reported across the suits include negligence, breach of implied contract, unjust enrichment, invasion of privacy and breach of fiduciary duty.

J.B. Hunt has not responded to the lawsuits in court. In a statement to local media on October 29, the company said: "We are investigating a cybersecurity incident involving unauthorized access to certain information within an isolated portion of J.B. Hunt's technology system. Our systems remain operational, and there has been no disruption to our ability to serve customers." It added that it brought in a cybersecurity firm, notified law enforcement and revoked the unauthorized access. The company has not confirmed the hackers' figures.

Nothing has been decided. The Hunter docket shows only the complaint and civil cover sheet. No class has been certified, no judge has ruled on whether J.B. Hunt was negligent, and it is not known whether the suits will be combined. Because they involve the same company, the same incident and the same court, consolidation is common in cases like these.

The complaints seek to represent people whose personal information was compromised in the breach. The exact proposed class definitions were not available for review. Based on the reported allegations, the groups most likely to be covered are:

• Current and former J.B. Hunt employees whose records were in the company's systems.
• Possibly job applicants, drivers or carrier contacts, if an investigation shows their data was taken. This is not confirmed.

You do not need to be named in a lawsuit to be part of a class. If a class is certified or a settlement is reached, the court will define who is included.

• Watch for a breach notice letter from J.B. Hunt. Companies usually mail notices after they finish investigating, and the letter should say what data was involved and whether free credit monitoring is offered.
• Check your credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com and consider a free credit freeze with Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
• Be careful with emails, texts or calls that mention J.B. Hunt payroll, benefits or tax forms.
• Keep records of any fraud, time spent or money spent dealing with the breach.

A Class Action Pulse inquiry is only an inquiry. It does not join the lawsuit or create a lawyer relationship.

Nothing yet. The complaints ask for damages, restitution and court orders requiring better data security, but no money has been awarded or offered. In data breach settlements, benefits often include reimbursement of documented losses, a cash payment and credit monitoring, but the outcome of this case is unknown.

• October 27, 2026: first lawsuits filed.
• Breach notice: not yet sent, as far as public records show.
• Claim deadline: none. There is no settlement.

You keep the right to file your own lawsuit or hire your own lawyer. If a class is later certified, you would receive notice and a chance to opt out.

• Proposed class action: a lawsuit filed on behalf of a group that a court has not yet approved as a class.
• Ransomware group: criminals who steal or lock data and demand payment to release or delete it.
• Leak site: a website where hackers post claims and samples of stolen data to pressure companies to pay.
• Consolidation: combining related lawsuits before one judge.
• Credit freeze: a free block on new credit being opened in your name.

J.B. Hunt is expected to respond to the complaints, and the court may combine the cases. If the investigation confirms personal data was taken, the company may be required to send notices under state breach laws, which would show how many people were affected. This page will be updated if notices are filed with state regulators, the cases are consolidated or a settlement is announced.

Case numbers, filing dates, judge and counsel come from the Justia docket and Law360 case listings. The complaints themselves were not available for review, so the allegations and quotes above come from reporting by the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and 5NEWS. The record counts are the hackers' claims and are unverified. J.B. Hunt's statement is quoted as reported. A separate 2021 J.B. Hunt incident involving driver applicants is not part of these cases.

Class Action Pulse is not a law firm or settlement administrator and does not guarantee eligibility or payment. This article is general information, not legal advice.