Consumer class actions tied to credit law will be affected by SCOTUS Article III case granted today
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether federal courts may hear the would-be class action filed by Virginia man who claims the people-search database Spokeo published false information about him.
At issue, according to Spokeo’s cert petition (PDF), is whether Congress can confer Article II standing on a plaintiff by authorizing a private lawsuit for “bare violation of a federal statute,” even when a plaintiff suffers no concrete harm.
The plaintiff, Thomas Robins, contended Spokeo violated a provision of the Fair Credit Reporting Act that limits when consumer reporting agencies may provide reports for employment purposes. Robins, who was unemployed, said his Spokeo results indicated he had more education, experience and financial status than is true.
The cert petition asserts the case “has significant implications for class action litigation under a statute that generates dozens of class actions in the federal courts every year.”
SCOTUSblog links to case documents here. A preview of the case posted by the ABA Section of Litigation is here. “At stake in Spokeo’s appeal to the Supreme Court,” the Litigation preview says, “is nothing less than what a consumer must show to bring a claim for violations of federal law.”
