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Spokeo.com., an information-scraping website that includes estimates of financial worth and education, is seeking a writ of certiorari from the U.S. Supreme Court for a review of standing for a putative Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) class action lawsuit against the company.
Plaintiff Thomas Robins of Virginia argues in the Spokeo class action lawsuit that the people search engine is in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act because they publish information in a public forum that is inaccurate. After it was amended, Robbins alleged that he had suffered an injury-in-fact because his job prospects were affected by the inaccuracies of the personal information about him on Spokeo Inc.’s website.
The U.S. District judge assigned to the Spokeo class action lawsuit had originally denied Class certification, arguing that there was no actual injury suffered by Robins and that a statutory violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act did not meet the Article III standing requirements of an injury-in-fact, causation and redressability. Spokeo argues that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ revival of the Spokeo FCRA class action lawsuit raises significant legal questions.
The appeals court decision noted that because Congress allowed consumers to seek damages of between $100 and $1000 per violation through the FCRA, that there was an injury because it was a violation of a person’s legal rights, reversing the lower court’s legal theories. The Spokeo request for a writ of certiorari argues that there is a significant disparity among the various circuits and how they view injuries based on statutes passed by Congress.
Specifically, the implication of having the violation of a statutory right created by the legislature is “drastic and absurd.” If the Spokeo class action lawsuit attorneys representing Robins are able to achieve Class certification even if there is little or no economic injury, “the lesser the injury, the easier the path to class certification, the broader the class, the greater the damages exposure, and–inevitably–the larger the settlement.”
Spokeo also says that while the FCRA class action lawsuit is focused on its people-based search engine and the people who may not have accurate representations based on data collected elsewhere, the ramifications of any decision by the Supreme Court would be significant. Other statutes that could be affected include ones that have prompted major class action lawsuits including the Truth in Lending Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, among others.
The plaintiff is represented by Steven Woodrow, Jay Edelson and Rafey S. Balabanian of Edelson PC.
The defendant is represented by John Nadolenco, Andrew J. Pincus, Archis A. Parasharami, Stephen Lilley and Donald M. Falk of Mayer Brown LLP.
The Spokeo FCRA Class Action Lawsuit is Thomas Robins v. Spokeo Inc., Case No. 11-cv-56843, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.
UPDATE: Tech giants Google, Yahoo, eBay, and Facebook urged the Supreme Court on June 6, 2014, to take up Spokeo’s appeal, arguing it could cost companies billions of dollars if plaintiffs are allowed to pursue statutory damages without suffering an injury.
UPDATE 2: On May 16, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Robins v. Spokeo that plaintiffs must prove both “concrete and particularized” injury when pursuing litigation under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) instead of focusing on mere technical violations.
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6 thoughts onSpokeo Class Action Lawsuit May Go to Supreme Court
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UPDATE 2: On May 16, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Robins v. Spokeo that plaintiffs must prove both “concrete and particularized” injury when pursuing litigation under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) instead of focusing on mere technical violations.
I worked at spokeo and I can tell you its really easy for me to setup a fake account under another persons name and have their web crawler think that its actually real data. I can make anyone seem unethical if I wanted to. Also I dont think they obtained their historical records data via legal means.
UPDATE: Tech giants Google, Yahoo, eBay, and Facebook urged the Supreme Court on June 6, 2014, to take up Spokeo’s appeal, arguing it could cost companies billions of dollars if plaintiffs are allowed to pursue statutory damages without suffering an injury.
How do we file??? This is a maaajjjjoooorrrr violation of our privacy !!! Y isn’t the government stepping in. I guess they like their public information online as well. This is ludicrous!! Please help give us the steps to file, because this can ruin a person’s life, occupation , and reputation. Just cause they say it’s legal doesn’t make it right!!! That is all.
I would like to join and find out more about Spokeo. Because
I was offended by the entire concept of Spokeo putting all my business after Hurricane Katrina. Please stop them, as I was in an abusive relationship, and did not need my abusive EX with my current location or address.
~Please and Thank You~