WGN News Interviews Lisa Esser-Weidenfeller About Data Privacy Theft Allegations Against Former University of Michigan Football Coach Matthew Weiss

Sommers Schwartz senior shareholder Lisa Esser-Weidenfeller appeared on an April 10, 2025, WGN-TV news segment to address the widening investigation into claims of identity theft and unauthorized computer access against former University of Michigan and Baltimore Ravens football coach Matthew Weiss. Weiss is accused of unlawfully hacking and exploiting personal data and intimate images of more than 150,000 student-athletes across the U.S., including possible victims at Loyola University Chicago.

You can watch the complete news feature in the video here: 

Lisa is part of the legal team (including Megan Bonanni of Pitt McGehee Palmer Bonanni & Rivers) representing student-athletes and others whose private data Weiss is said to have stolen. They filed a class action lawsuit in U.S. District Court on April 2, 2025, on behalf of 11 Jane Doe plaintiffs against Weiss, the University of Michigan, its Board of Regents, and third-party data provider Keffer Development Services for gross negligence, Title IX violations, and violations of federal data privacy laws, including the Stored Communications Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The plaintiffs seek more than $50 million in damages and broader accountability for the systemic failures that enabled the alleged misconduct.

In conjunction with the federal investigation into Weiss’s wrongdoing, Loyola University Chicago has been ordered to preserve all relevant evidence, such as emails, video files, and internal communications, relating to students who went to the school between 2015 and 2020. Although no criminal charges have been brought against the university, Lisa told WGN that Loyola and other schools failed their students by not implementing adequate safeguards to protect sensitive personal data.

If you are a current or former college student-athlete and suspect Matthew Weiss illegally obtained your private, personal data, please contact Lisa Esser-Weidenfeller for a free and confidential consultation to discuss your right to compensation.