By Craig Clough (May 4, 2022, 10: 11 PM EDT) -- A Maryland federal judge certified eight classes of Marriott International Inc. guests in multidistrict litigation over a major data breach that compromised the personal information of more than 100 million guests at its Starwood-branded hotels, although some other classes were denied certification.

U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm granted certification on Tuesday to eight of 13 potential guest classes with claims against Marriott or Accenture LLP, a consulting company that worked with Marriott-owned Starwood Hotels and Resorts Inc. at the time the data breach was discovered in 2018.

The ruling certifies potentially millions of class members spanning six states that were included...