HSBC To Pay $13M To Settle Claims of Illegally Recording Phone Calls

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HSBC Card Services has reached a multi-million dollar settlement wrapping up a group of consolidated class action lawsuits that alleged the company unlawfully recorded phone calls it made to account holders.

On August 26, the parties jointly asked U.S. District Judge James V. Selna to grant preliminary approval of the settlement, putting an end to four years of litigation in three class action lawsuits initially filed separately but later consolidated into a single action.

Plaintiffs in all three actions claimed HSBC had recorded phone calls made to account holders without consent, allegedly violating the California Invasion of Privacy Act.

The proposed settlement requires HSBC to create a settlement fund totaling $13 million, designed to cover all payments to the plaintiffs and Class Members as well as associated administrative costs and the plaintiffs’ costs of the litigation.

Plaintiffs plan to file a separate request for costs, expenses and attorneys’ fees of up to one-third of the settlement amount.

Named plaintiffs Terry Fanning and Stefan Lindgren seek incentive awards not to exceed $5,000 each. Plaintiffs Tatiana Jabbar, Gail Medeiros, Tracy T. Bomberger, Peter Morrissey and Julie Pulatie will request incentive awards of no more than $1,500 each.

A hearing on the motion for settlement approval is scheduled for October 2016.

Fanning and Jabbar filed the first of these three HSBC class action lawsuits in June 2012. They alleged HSBC recorded confidential telephone conversations with California credit card account holders, allegedly violating that state’s Invasion of Privacy Act.

The CIPA prohibits certain intentional recordings of phone calls without the consent of all parties to the conversation and provides for statutory damages of $5,000 per call.

Lindgren moved to intervene in Fanning and Jabbar’s case. After that motion was denied, he filed his own separate HSBC lawsuit in July 2014. The two separate cases were consolidated that November.

Meanwhile, plaintiff Medeiros filed her own action a few days after Lindgren’s.

When she reached a proposed settlement with HSBC, Fanning and Lindgren moved to intervene in her case, objecting to her proposed settlement.

On a later motion by Fanning and Lindgren, Medeiros’s claim was consolidated with the first two claims, putting all three HSBC lawsuits together before Judge Selna.

For settlement purposes, the parties have agreed to define the plaintiff Class as all persons in California who between Mar. 23, 2009 and May 1, 2012 received a phone call from or on behalf of HSBC Card Services Inc. that was recorded by or on behalf of that company or HSBC Technology & Services Inc.

Instructions on how to file a claim for the HSBC class action settlement were not immediately available. Keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter for the latest updates. You can also “Follow” this case by using your free Top Class Actions account to receive notifications when this article is updated.

The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys from Altshuler Berzon LLP, Arleo Law Firm PLC, The Medhi Firm PC, Bailey & Galyen, Hyde & Swigart, Kazerouni Law Group APC, and Law Offices of Todd M. Friedman PC.

The HSBC Privacy Rights Class Action Lawsuit is Terry Fanning, et al. v. HSBC Card Services Inc., et al., Case No. 8:12-cv-00885, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

UPDATE: The California HSBC Call Recording Class Action Settlement is now open! Click here to file a claim. 

UPDATE 2: On Feb. 28, 2018, Top Class Actions viewers started receiving checks in the mail from the HSBC call recording class action settlement worth as much as $53.34. Congratulations to everyone who filed a claim and got PAID!