The United States Supreme Court has reshaped class standing in a landmark ruling. TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez asked whether class members who suffer no actual injury can be included in a damages class under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23. The Court, in a 5-4 opinion led by Justice Kavanaugh, put it simply: “no concrete harm, no standing.” The Court’s holding has potentially significant implications for data breach and privacy class actions.
In Ramirez, the lead Plaintiff attempted to purchase a car from a dealership when an inaccurate credit report identified him as a potential terrorist. After a jury trial, the certified class of 8,815 members was awarded $40 million in statutory and punitive damages for TransUnion’s alleged violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. On appeal, the Ninth Circuit impermissibly bundled into one class members whose credit files were disclosed to third-parties and members whose files were not disclosed. In doing so, the Ninth Circuit found that Ramirez’s claims were sufficiently “typical” of the class and that the absent class members suffered an “injury” because they had been erroneously notified by mail that they were on the same terrorist list.