Plaintiffs’ firms are circling Carhartt and Dick’s Sporting Goods for two very different reasons.

Carhartt in hot water over stolen data

Edelson Lechtzin LLP said Thursday that it is investigating potential data privacy claims stemming from information allegedly stolen from Carhartt. The inquiry follows an Aug. 13 claim by the extortion group ShinyHunters that it had stolen more than 50 gigabytes of Carhartt customer, employee and corporate information.

The group subsequently published data allegedly taken from the workwear company. Have I Been Pwned, a breach-notification service, said the material contained 12.9 million unique email addresses, along with names, telephone numbers and physical addresses.

That figure is considerably smaller than initial estimates. Have I Been Pwned founder Troy Hunt said in an Aug. 26 analysis that an initial scan extracted nearly 25 million email addresses, but further examination of the Carhartt files found millions of synthetic records that did not correspond to real individuals. Those records were excluded from the final count.

Carhartt has not publicly acknowledged the incident or confirmed the authenticity of the leaked information. Edelson Lechtzin said in its Aug. 27 announcement that it is evaluating whether affected individuals could pursue a class action, although the firm did not identify any complaint already filed.

Dick’s Sporting Goods faces questions over weakening demand

Levi & Korsinsky on Friday announced an inquiry into possible securities claims against Dick’s following its second-quarter earnings miss and reduced outlook.

The Dick’s inquiry concerns whether the retailer adequately disclosed mounting promotional pressure and weakening demand across parts of its footwear and apparel business before reporting second-quarter results Tuesday, according to Levi & Korsinsky.

Dick’s generated $5.59 billion in net sales during the quarter ended Aug. 1, up 53.2 percent from a year earlier largely because its results now include Foot Locker, according to the company’s earnings release. Adjusted earnings declined 19 percent to $3.53 per diluted share. Both figures fell short of Wall Street consensus estimates cited by Levi & Korsinsky.

Performance also diverged sharply between the retailer’s businesses. Comparable sales at the core Dick’s operation increased 4.9 percent, while pro forma comparable sales at Foot Locker declined 3.6 percent, the company reported.

Dick’s said portions of the athletic footwear and apparel market became increasingly promotional as the quarter progressed. Foot Locker was more exposed to the slowdown because of its reliance on legacy footwear styles and product launches, which were both fewer in number and weaker than expected.

The company consequently lowered its full-year outlook, projecting adjusted operating income of $1.46 billion to $1.56 billion. Dick’s had raised that range to between $1.71 billion and $1.83 billion in May.

Levi & Korsinsky said in its Friday shareholder alert that its inquiry will examine whether Dick’s made materially false or misleading statements before releasing the results. The firm did not identify a filed lawsuit, regulatory action or specific statement that a court has found misleading.

Both inquiries remain preliminary, with the law firms seeking potential clients and information from affected consumers or investors. Neither firm said it had filed a lawsuit. The investigation announcements, both identified as attorney advertising, do not establish that either company violated the law.