Under Article III of the U.S. Constitution, a plaintiff must allege that he or she has suffered an “injury-in-fact” to establish standing to sue in federal court. Today, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, No. 13-1339, to decide whether Congress may confer Article III standing by authorizing a private right of action based on a bare violation of a federal statute, even though the plaintiff has not suffered any concrete harm.
The Court’s resolution of this question in Spokeo could affect a number of different types of class actions that have been instituted in recent years seeking potentially massive statutory damages based solely on allegations of technical violations of federal statutes—even though the plaintiff has not suffered any of the different types of “injury-in-fact” usually required to establish standing. We represent the petitioner, Spokeo, Inc.
Congress has passed a number of statutes that permit recovery of statutory damages for statutory violations even in the absence of any proof of actual injury. These statutes are particularly common in the privacy and financial-services contexts. The statute at issue in Spokeo—the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)—stands at the intersection of these two fields. Among other things, it requires “consumer reporting agencies” to “follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of” consumer reports. 15 U.S.C. § 1681e(b). It also requires the provision of notices to persons who provide information to a consumer reporting agency and to those who use the services of such agencies. Id. § 1681e(d). For a “willful” violation of these sections, a prevailing plaintiff may recover statutory “damages of not less than $100 or not more than $1,000,” id. § 1681n(a)(1), and also may seek punitive damages, id. § 1681n(a)(2).
The plaintiff in Spokeo, Thomas Robins, seeks to recover statutory damages on behalf of a putative class for alleged violations of FCRA. Specifically, Robins alleged that Spokeo, which is a “people search engine,” is a “consumer reporting agency” subject to FCRA and that it had published inaccurate information about him, including that he was married and that he was better situated financially than he actually is. Robins also alleged that Spokeo had failed to provide the notices required under the FCRA. The district court dismissed the case for lack of standing, concluding that Robins had not alleged the injury-in-fact necessary to satisfy Article III.
The Ninth Circuit reversed (pdf). It concluded that the “creation of a private cause of action to enforce a statutory provision implies that Congress intended the enforceable provision to create a statutory right,” and that “the violation of a statutory right is usually”—on its own—“a sufficient injury in fact to confer standing” when “the statutory cause of action does not require a showing of actual harm.”
Spokeo petitioned for certiorari (pdf), explaining that there is a persistent conflict among the courts of appeals over whether the allegation of a statutory violation—a bare “injury-in-law”—is sufficient to establish Article III standing. The petition also pointed to the importance of this question in light of the large number of class actions involving allegations of technical statutory violations that did not cause the plaintiff any concrete harm.
The Supreme Court will hear the case next Term. We look forward to making the case for Spokeo on the merits.