On September 8, CCL filed an amicus brief on behalf of the American Association for Justice in the U.S. Supreme Court urging the Supreme Court to dismiss the case of Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, No. No. 13-1339, a putative class action with broad implications for consumers, employees and others whose federal statutory rights may have been violated, because it fails to provide a basis to answer the question presented on certiorari.

Spokeo collects publicly available information about individuals and packages it for sale to prospective employers and other customers. Thomas Robins, brought this putative class action, alleging that Spokeo’s report on him falsely indicated that he was older, better educated, employed, wealthier and married. Robins asserted that Spokeo’s failure to take reasonable measures to ensure accuracy violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which allows statutory damages of $100 to $1,000 per willful violation. Spokeo argued that Robins showed no “real-world” damages because the false information actually portrayed him more favorably. The Ninth Circuit held that violation of Robins’ statutory right under the FCRA was sufficient to create standing, regardless of actual injury in fact.

The Supreme Court granted review of the question whether Congress may confer Article III standing upon a plaintiff who suffers no concrete harm, based on a bare violation of a federal statute.

AAJ’s amicus brief, authored by CCL Senior Counsel Jeffrey R. White, suggested that the Court dismiss the Petition in this case as improvidently granted. The statutory violation was not the publishing of false information, but the absence of reasonable procedures for accuracy, required by 15 U.S.C. § 1681e(b). The publishing of false information was the concrete harm the FCRA was intended to prevent by imposing an accuracy requirement. Thus this case does not squarely present the Court with the issue whether Congress can confer standing on a plaintiff who has suffered no concrete injury.

Moreover, the principle that a plaintiff must demonstrate injury-in-fact in addition to violation of a statutory duty is one that the Court has fashioned for public law cases, such as the enforcement of environmental regulation. It has never been a requirement of Article III standing that a plaintiff asserting a private cause of action demonstrate injury in addition to the violation of a legal duty owed to the plaintiff.