FEATURE
Important Supreme Court Ruling on Standing By JOHN DRURY AND PAMELA DEVATA
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n June 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez, reversing a class action award of roughly $40 million in a case brought under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). On appeal, the Court addressed whether class members who were not harmed by TransUnion’s alleged violations could still recover damages in federal court based on purely technical violations of the law. For decades, the Supreme Court said the infringement of rights that Congress has created by statute is a sufficient injury
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to allow standing to sue in federal court. In TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez, however, the Court held that each class member in a federal class action must show they suffered a “concrete harm.” Otherwise, they do not have standing to recover damages in federal court. In other words, it is not enough for a plaintiff to show a technical violation of a statute. To recover damages, each person must show that he or she suffered a real, concrete injury. The background of the case helps explain the difference between a plaintiff who is “harmed”
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for standing purposes, compared to class members who are not harmed. TransUnion had prepared a credit report on Ramirez. The report inaccurately identified Ramirez as being a potential match to a name on the terrorist watch list. Because of the credit report, Ramirez was unable to purchase an automobile. Ramirez then requested a copy of his credit file from TransUnion, which sent him two mailings in return. The first mailing included his credit file and a summary of his rights under the FCRA. The second mailing referenced the terrorist watch list BACK TO CONTENTS
