Eastern District of Missouri Dismisses Exxon Mobil FACTA Lawsuit
April 18, 2018
Types : Press Releases
On April 13, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri dismissed claims that Exxon Mobil and two private operators of convenience stores violated the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) by printing too many digits on consumers’ credit card receipts. Montgomery McCracken attorneys John G. Papianou, Patrick T. Ryan and Katharine M. Ladd successfully defended the case in Coleman v. Exxon Mobil Corporation.
The class action suit arose from plaintiff’s claim that each time he purchased fuel at one of defendants’ locations, the pay at the pump system printed a receipt that displayed the first six and last four digits of his credit card number. Plaintiff alleged the printing scheme violated FACTA, which provides that “no person that accepts credit cards or debit cards for the transaction of business shall print more than the last five digits of the card number.”
Defendants moved to dismiss plaintiff’s complaint on the ground that he lacked standing. Although plaintiff alleged a technical violation of the statute, he did not allege that anyone had actually used his credit card or otherwise defrauded him. Similarly, he failed to allege a material likelihood that anything would happen to him as a result of the printed receipts. The district court agreed. Relying on the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, 136 S. Ct. 1540 (2016), the court explained that “Article III standing requires a concrete injury even in the context of a statutory violation.” Because plaintiff alleged no injury, other than an alleged technical violation of the statute, the court dismissed his complaint.
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