On February 9, 2017, Judiciary Committee Chair Bob Goodlatte (R.-Va.), introduced H.R. 985, the Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act of 2017 (“the Act”). The Act aims to “amend the procedures used in federal court class actions and multidistrict litigation proceedings to assure fairer, more efficient outcomes for claimants and defendants.” Rep. Goodlatte issued a
Class Actions
TCPA Defendant Settles Class Claims on Individual Basis Following Counterclaims for Harassment and Racketeering
BrandRep, the defendant in a Telephone Consumer Protection Act putative class action lawsuit pending in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, recently settled putative nationwide class claims on an individual basis, resulting in dismissal of the case. The settlement came on the heels of BrandRep’s assertion of counterclaims that put…
Court Preliminarily Approves $1.2M FACTA Class Action Settlement Against Microsoft
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida recently granted preliminary approval of a Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (“FACTA”) class action against Microsoft Corporation.
In Guarisma v. Microsoft Corp., the named plaintiff, Carlos Guarisma, filed a putative class action against Microsoft in November …
DOJ Brief Opposing CFPB Brings More Uncertainty
On March 17, the U.S. Department of Justice submitted a brief to the D.C. Circuit asserting that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s single-director structure violates the Constitution’s separation of powers in the CFPB v. PHH Corporation case.
CFPB’s Single Director Structure
The Democratic-controlled 111th Congress created the CFPB as part of the Dodd-Frank Act in…
Courts Approve $950,000 FCRA Class Action Settlement Against McDonald’s
On March 15, the United States District Court for the Central District of California granted final approval of a Fair Credit Reporting Act class action against fast food restaurant McDonald’s.
The named plaintiff, James Wesley Carter, originally brought the action against McDonald’s in July 2015 alleging that McDonald’s violates the rights of consumers by failing …
TCPA Class Action Dismissed Based on Lack of Vicarious Liability
The United States District Court for the Southern District of California recently granted summary judgment in favor of defendant United Student Aid Funds, Inc. (“USAF”) in a Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action, holding that the plaintiff had failed to prove that USAF is vicariously liable for the acts of its third party servicers.…
Improper Form of Background Check Disclosure Not Sufficient Injury for Standing
Ever since the Supreme Court decided Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins last year, courts have been struggling to define the contours of standing in “no injury” class actions. In Fields v. Beverly Health and Rehabilitation Services, Inc. et al., the District of Minnesota recently granted a motion to dismiss a Fair Credit Reporting Act c…
Kansas Federal Court Grants Partial Approval to Background Check Disclosure Class Action Settlement
On January 25, the United States District Court for the District of Kansas granted partial preliminary approval to the class settlement in Lengel v. HomeAdvisor, Inc., No. 15-2198-KHV. The plaintiff, Emerald Lengel, brought a class action lawsuit in January 2015, alleging that HomeAdvisor, her then-potential employer, violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Lengel …
SuperAmerica Convenience Store Agrees to $3.5 Million TCPA Class Action Settlement
The parties in Soular v. Northern Tier Energy, LP et al. recently filed a motion for preliminary approval of a $3.5 million Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) class action in the District of Minnesota. The three named plaintiffs in the case alleged that they received unsolicited marketing text messages from the …
District of Arizona Grants CenturyLink’s Spokeo Motion in FCRA Class Case
The District of Arizona recently granted a Spokeo motion filed by CenturyLink, holding that plaintiff Lydia Bultemeyer lacked standing to bring a purported class action under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
In her suit, Bultemeyer alleged that CenturyLink violated the FCRA when it accessed her credit report when she visited the company’s …