On July 30, the Third Circuit held that whether an arbitration agreement permits classwide arbitration is a question for courts, not arbitrators, to decide. Through its decision, the Third Circuit expressly aligned itself with a prior ruling to the same effect from the Sixth Circuit.
The Third Circuit reversed a 2011 decision of a district
The United States Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit ruled Tuesday that the federal government cannot invoke the defense of sovereign immunity for violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, but the court also dismissed on separate grounds the underlying class action proceeding relating to the government’s alleged unlawful disclosure of plaintiff’s credit card information.
In
Consistent with its expansive view of constitutional standing, the Ninth Circuit recently held that a plaintiff has constitutional standing under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to sue for a misrepresentation that was never actually communicated to him.
In Tourgeman v. Collins Financial Services, Inc., the plaintiff brought a class action lawsuit against multiple
In IKO Roofing Shingle Products Liability Litigation, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a denial of class certification in a products liability multidistrict litigation on the grounds that the plaintiffs’ two damages theories complied with the U.S. Supreme Court’s holding in Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, even though these theories would not allow
In a novel ruling, the Ninth Circuit expressly adopted an opinion from the Federal Communications Commission, finding the potential for vicarious liability under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. In Thomas v. Taco Bell Corp., No. 12-56458 (unpublished), the Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court’s holding that Taco Bell was not vicariously liable under the
On June 27, 2014, Magistrate Judge Orlando L. Garcia of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas recommended denial of a plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment in an FDCPA action implicating settlement letter language for time-barred debt. The case, Schreve v. First National Collection Bureau, Inc., involved time-barred debt that
The CFPB is seeking approval from the Office of Management and Budget to conduct a national telephone survey of 1,000 credit card holders as part of its study on which the CFPB may base its decision to limit or prohibit the use of arbitration clauses in credit card agreements.
The CFPB’s “study” of the use
On May 1, 2014, Spokeo, Inc. filed a writ of certiorari in the United States Supreme Court requesting the Court decide whether a plaintiff has Article III standing in a federal court when he or she has suffered no actual harm besides the violation of a statute alone. Resolution of this question could have a
A Texas-based credit repair organization has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that it violated federal law by making misrepresentations to consumer reporting agencies and charging consumers up-front fees before providing its services.
In its complaint filed in October 2011, the FTC charged that RMCN Credit Services, Inc. and its individual owners, Doug and
On May 1, 2014, Spokeo, Inc. petitioned the United States Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari to decide a significant question regarding Article III standing applicable to numerous federal consumer protection statutes. Specifically, Spokeo asked the Supreme Court to weigh in on whether Congress can confer Article III standing to sue upon a plaintiff