Kohl’s Will Pay $1.8M To Settle Credit Monitoring Class Action

A $1.8 million settlement has been proposed to resolve claims that Kohl’s and Capital One deceptively charged consumers for credit monitoring.

The settlement would benefit a Class of consumers who opened a Kohl’s Private Label Credit Card before Apr. 11, 2011 and who, between Feb. 13, 2012 and Oct. 31, 2013, paid $14.99 a month for PrivacyGuard but did not complete the second enrollment step.

Should the settlement be approved by the court, a settlement Class of 16,587 consumers will receive around half of the $3.3 million paid for PrivacyGuard services.

Class counsel is pleased with the proposed settlement. They say that the $1.8 million is a good amount because Kohl’s and Capital One previously argued that consumers could only recover the $1.9 million that the companies retained.

“So, by recovering the $1.8 million via settlement, we got almost 100 percent of the money the defendants retained, without the risk of appeal,” Class counsel told Law360.

The Kohl’s class action lawsuit was filed in February 2015 by several plaintiffs claiming that the retailer and Capital One “engage in unfair and deceptive practices with regard to Payment Protection” and PrivacyGuard services.

Consumers with a Kohl’s credit card were reportedly charged $14.99 a month for PrivacyGuard credit monitoring services. However, this amount was allegedly charged to consumers universally, regardless of whether or not consumers had activated the services.

In some cases, consumers were reportedly forced to pay $14.99 a month for a product with “little or no value.” According to court records, as little as 12 percent of the 30,000 consumers enrolled in PrivacyGuard actually completed both steps of the enrollment process by mid 2012.

In March 2016, Kohl’s and Capital One motioned to dismiss the class action lawsuit – arguing that the suit was filed outside of the statutes of limitations. The companies claimed that the class action was bound by Virginia state’s three year statute of limitations and that the statute was triggered when the consumers were first charged for PrivacyGuard.

In June 2016, some of the claims were dismissed but others were allowed to continue. Claims regarding fees incurred or paid before Feb. 13, 2012 were dismissed based on the statute of limitations. However, the court determined that the plaintiffs were not required to prove their case definitely. Instead, they were required only to show a “reasonable likelihood” that continuing litigation would lead to proof.

Kohl’s and Capital One do not admit any wrongdoing by agreeing to settle the credit monitoring class action lawsuit against them. Litigation is time consuming and expensive, so settling the case provides them relief from the hassle and risks of continuing in court while also providing Class Members with payment.

Top Class Actions will post updates to this class action settlement as they become available. For the latest updates, keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter. You can also receive notifications when this article is updated by using your free Top Class Actions account and clicking the “Follow Article” button at the top of the post.

Plaintiffs and the proposed Class are represented by Lee Shalov of McLaughlin & Stern LLP and Patrick Howard, Simon B. Paris and Charles J. Kocher of Saltz Mongeluzzi Barrett & Bendesky PC.

The Kohl’s Credit Monitoring Class Action Lawsuit is Jennifer Underwood, et al. v. Kohl’s Department Stores Inc., et al., Case No. 2:15­-cv-00730, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.