Jury awards woman $18.6M over Equifax credit report errors
After trying without success for two years to get Equifax to correct claimed errors in her credit report, starting in 2010, an Oregon woman sued.
On Friday, a federal court jury awarded $18.6 million to Julie MIler, according to ABC News and the Oregonian.
The verdict, which is expected to be appealed, is one of the largest ever made in such a case. It included $180,000 in compensatory damages and $18.4 million in punitive damages.
Attorney Justin Baxter of Portland was part of a father-and-son legal team representing Miller. He said privacy issues–Miller’s personal information went to others, due to credit report mix-ups, just as personal information about third parties was intermingled in her file–as well as the fact that her damaged credit prevented her from helping a disabled sibling influenced the jury.
He also pointed out that the credit reporting agency apparently may not have paid much attention to Miller’s eight efforts to get Equifax to correct its records.
“We found that when complaints would come in, they’d run them through a scanner and then send them overseas,” Baxter told ABC News, explaining that Miller’s complaint went to a Philippines subcontractor.
Equifax reportedly declined comment.
