Tag: Parties in FCRA

After Remand From Supreme Court, Parties in FCRA Class Action Reach a Settlement A class of consumers has asked a U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to approve a $9 million settlement with one of the major credit reporting bureaus. The lawsuit claims that the consumer reporting agency (CRA) committed violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act by labeling them as terrorists and, in 2021, resulted in a split U.S. Supreme Court ruling. The motion was filed by the Lead Plaintiff for court approval of the party's most recent deal, which has been significantly cut from the $60.1 million jury verdict received prior to the defendant's appeal. The class has also been trimmed from the district court's certification by the Supreme Court's ruling, which found that part of the members had not suffered concrete harm, which is a condition for Article III standing. The class was pleased with the deal they made with the company in January that has now been finalized. They believe that the deal is a success and that going through a second trial would not be worth the time or money that it would require. The class council that handled the case agreed with this sentiment, voicing that when taking into consideration the expense, delay, and uncertainties that would be associated with further litigation, the settlement brings substantial benefits. Out of the $9 million in settlement funds the parties have agreed to, counsel for the plaintiffs would be permitted to seek half of that amount. This case was first filed more than ten years prior by the Lead Plaintiff, who has alleged that he was incapable of purchasing a car after the CRA informed lenders that he was a potential match for two entries in the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control's (OFAC) database which lists individuals sanctioned by the U.S. government. The plaintiff further alleged that after contacting the CRA to ask to be removed from the company's list, representatives failed to explain how the error could be corrected. The case was brought to trial in 2017 and claimed that the CRA did not employ reasonable methods to ensure accuracy under the FCRA, through using name-only matching when checking the OFAC database and failing to cross-check results using other identifiers. This resulted in a jury award that included $8.1 million in statutory damages and $52 million in punitive damages. This verdict was later upheld with reduced punitive damages by the Ninth Circuit before the Supreme Court reversed the Ninth Circuit's ruling finding that the certified class lacked Article III standing. Out of the 8,185 class members, the court found that only 1,853 had alleged that the CRA had provided misleading credit reports to a third party. The remaining class members thus lacked the concrete harm necessary to establish Article III standing. The suit was then remanded to the district court for further proceedings. The parties engaged in a mediation session in early 2022, which led to an agreement to compensate the now smaller class that showed Article III standing following the Supreme Court's ruling. Discover the benefits of Pre-employ’s seamless background checks for your business. Contact a Sales representative today. Source

Tag: Parties in FCRA

After Remand From Supreme Court, Parties in FCRA Class Action Reach a Settlement

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