In June 2015 , former Metro employees , Michael and Margaret Abbott , were informed by the Internal Revenue Service ( IRS ) that they were victims of identity theft and that someone attempted to file a fraudulent tax return in Michael Abbott ’s name . In August 2016 , the Abbotts learned that their names , addresses , and social security numbers were inadvertently exposed in an HR Department training manual that had been posted on Metro ’s public website from 2012 to 2016 . The Enterprise Business Solutions ( EBS ) manual was created by HR in 2005 for internal use by Human Resources coordinators from each department . The EBS manual contained actual employee data and a total of 21 social security numbers were exposed . The EBS manual was placed online in December 2012 for ease of access to HR coordinators , but was also publicly available to anyone . On August 4 , 2016 , an HR coordinator from the Arts Commission reported a concern that the manual appeared to use actual employee data . The manual was removed from the website that same day , and the HR Department destroyed all paper copies of the training manuals and revised them to remove sensitive information . The EBS system had already been modified by the HR Department a few years earlier to mask sensitive employee data . All affected employees , including the Abbotts , were notified of this breach by certified letter on August 24 , 2016 and offered two years of identity theft protection insurance . The Abbotts were notified by the IRS of the attempted false tax return , but did not lose any potential tax refund they were owed . They were offered one year of free identity theft protection from Metro HR and have since purchased their own identity theft insurance , which they intend to maintain indefinitely at a current cost of approximately $ 160 per year . Ms. Abbott has a history of stress and anxiety related medical issues and suffered a stress related heart attack in July 2015 , one month after the letters from the IRS concerning identity theft . The statutory claims asserted in their complaint include provisions for attorneys ’ fees and costs . The Abbotts have agreed to accept a total of $ 22,000 in full settlement of this case . ;