On February 4, 2021, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a customer’s proposed class action lawsuit against a Florida-based fast-food chain, PDQ, over a data breach. The three-judge panel rejected the argument that an increased risk of identity theft was a concrete injury sufficient to confer Article III standing,
class action
Ninth Circuit Reverses Class Action Coupon Settlement Because Attorneys Were Awarded Fees Based on Hours Worked Rather Than Coupon Value
On May 15 a Ninth Circuit panel reversed the district court’s approval of a class action settlement, holding that attorney’s fees awarded in connection with a coupon for the class members must be tied to actual redemption of the coupons rather than the time the attorneys spent working toward the…
Light, (Camera), Class Action! After Seven Years of Dormancy Since Inception, Businesses See Class Action Lawsuits for Alleged Violations of California’s “Shine the Light” Act
There have been a number of class action lawsuits recently filed in California state courts against businesses for allegedly violating California’s Shine the Light privacy law.
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Superiority Beats Enormity: 9th Circuit Rejects Denial of FACTA Class Certification Based on Disproportionality of Damages
In a decision filed September 27, 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed a California district court’s refusal to certify a class action alleging violations of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (“FACTA”). The Ninth Circuit ruled that none of the three grounds advanced below – the disproportionality between the potential liability and the actual harm suffered, the enormity of the potential damages, or the defendant’s good faith compliance with FACTA after being sued – justified denying class certification on superiority grounds. The Ninth Circuit’s decision narrows, if not eliminates, the potential for disagreement among district courts on an issue that has for some time been a fly in the ointment for class action plaintiffs (and their attorneys) hoping for big paydays on account of harmless technical violations of FACTA.
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We’ll Give You (and Your Friends) a Hoodie to Go Away: Class Settlement in FACTA Truncation Lawsuit Receives Preliminary Approval
On February 3, 2010, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania preliminarily approved a class action settlement between Aramark Sports, LLC and a class of approximately 5,000 customers who made credit or debit card purchases from stores at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. If approved, the proposed settlement would resolve allegations made by the plaintiffs that Aramark violated the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act’s (“FACTA”) truncation requirements by electronically printing receipts that contained (a) more than the last 5 digits of the plaintiffs’ credit or debit card numbers and/or (b) the expiration date of such cards.
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Recent Death of Data Breach Class Action Resuscitates Lack of Standing Arguments in Identity Exposure Cases
In Amburgy v. Express Scripts, Inc., Magistrate Judge Frederick R. Buckles of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri held that “plaintiff’s asserted claim of ‘increased-risk-of-harm’ fails to meet the constitutional requirement that a plaintiff demonstrate harm that is ‘actual or imminent, not conjectural or hypothetical.’ Plaintiff has therefore failed to carry his burden of demonstrating that he has standing to bring this suit.”
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Who Cares If A List of Email Addresses Gets Stolen?
A typical corporate data security policy classifies consumer contact information as confidential, but not “highly confidential” or “sensitive.” Should mere contact information be afforded greater protection?
One case on point has dragged on since late 2007, when Ameritrade reported that a database of its customers’ contact information (including names, physical addresses, email addresses and phone numbers) had been compromised. A class action law suit quickly followed, and the third settlement attempt was rejected just recently by the court on the grounds that, in the judge’s view, it provided an inadequate remedy for the affected consumers.…
No Shopping Spree for Plaintiffs Under California’s Song-Beverly Credit Card Act
On May 22, 2008, the California Court of Appeal narrowed the scope of claims available under California’s Song-Beverly Credit Card Act of 1971, California Civil Code § 1747.08, ruling that the statute is subject to the one-year statute of limitations of Code of Civil Procedure section 340 and does not apply to merchandise returns.
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