Aug. 30--GLENVILLE -- The parent company of the T.J. Maxx and Marshall's chains has filed a forceful response to a lawsuit brought by TrustCo Bank Corp NY, saying the Glenville bank-holding company "unnecessarily and unreasonably" canceled customer debit cards after the retailer's highly publicized 2006 data breach.

TrustCo sued TJX Cos. last month to recoup costs it incurred from reissuing an estimated 4,000 customer MasterCard debit cards -- at no charge to customers -- after hackers accessed the Framingham, Mass.-based discounter's computer network.

The bank says its cost for the breach was up to $20 per affected account.

TrustCo's lawsuit repeatedly accuses TJX of negligence and says the bank as a result suffered losses from administrative expenses and lost interest and transaction fees. TrustCo also cites "potential damages," including a loss in customers and reputation.

Kevin Timmons, a TrustCo vice president and company spokesman, declined to comment on the suit.

The suit, originally filed in state Supreme Court in Schenectady County, has been moved to U.S. District Court in Albany.

TJX, which also operates HomeGoods and A.J. Wright stores, has faced criticism for not revealing the breach, which occurred in December 2006, until the following month. The company faces a lawsuit from some New England banks and in May announced it had reached a $24 million settlement agreement with MasterCard International to cover that company's costs from the breach.

But in the response filed Wednesday, TJX says TrustCo "caused or contributed to, and failed reasonably to mitigate, any injury they allegedly have suffered."

The retailer claims TrustCo "failed to implement policies or procedures" that would have allowed the bank to avoid canceling and replacing customer debit cards, including installing certain fraud-detection software, monitoring international transactions and implementing transaction limits.

TJX spokeswoman Sherry Land did not return a phone call seeking comment Friday.

Consumers have not punished TJX for the data breach. The company this month said it earned $200.2 million in the second quarter, up from $59 million in the year-ago period.

The year-ago results included $118 million in charges suffered by TJX as a result of the data breach.

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