Dr. David S. Muransky v. Godiva Chocolatier, Inc.

922 F.3d 1175
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedApril 22, 2019
Docket16-16486; 16-16783
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 922 F.3d 1175 (Dr. David S. Muransky v. Godiva Chocolatier, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dr. David S. Muransky v. Godiva Chocolatier, Inc., 922 F.3d 1175 (11th Cir. 2019).

Opinions

MARTIN, Circuit Judge:

We sua sponte vacate our previous opinion and publish this one in its place. For ease of reading, the major change is to Part II.B, our discussion of Dr. Muransky's standing to bring this action.

This appeal was brought to contest the approval of a class-action settlement. Dr. David Muransky filed a class action against Godiva Chocolatier, Inc. for violating the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act ("FACTA"). Appellants James Price and Eric Isaacson ("the objectors") objected to a class settlement reached by Dr. Muransky and Godiva. Over their objections, the District Court approved the settlement, class counsel's request for attorney's fees, and an incentive award for Dr. Muransky. After careful review and with the benefit of oral argument, we affirm.

I. Background

In April 2015, Dr. Muransky filed a class action *1181against Godiva for allegedly violating FACTA. FACTA prohibits merchants from printing "more than the last 5 digits of the card number or the expiration date upon any receipt provided to the cardholder at the point of the sale or transaction." 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(g)(1). We will refer to this as the "truncation requirement."

FACTA authorizes customers to sue merchants that willfully or negligently violate the truncation requirement. 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681n(a) ; 1681o (a). A merchant willfully violates FACTA by acting in knowing violation of its statutory duties or by acting in reckless disregard of those duties. See Safeco Ins. Co. of Am. v. Burr, 551 U.S. 47, 57-58, 127 S.Ct. 2201, 2208-09, 167 L.Ed.2d 1045 (2007). For willful violations, customers may recover actual damages or statutory damages from $ 100 to $ 1000, and punitive damages. 15 U.S.C. § 1681n(a)(1), (a)(2) ; Safeco, 551 U.S. at 53, 127 S.Ct. at 2206. Customers can recover statutory damages for willful violations even if they cannot show their identity was stolen or credit impacted, 15 U.S.C. § 1681n(a), and even if they received and kept the defective receipt. Engel v. Scully & Scully, Inc., 279 F.R.D. 117, 125-26 (S.D.N.Y. 2011). By contrast, when the violation is a result of negligence, customers can only recover their actual damages as well as attorney's fees. 15 U.S.C. § 1681o (a) ; Engel, 279 F.R.D. at 125-26.

The operative complaint alleges that after Dr. Muransky made a purchase at a Godiva store, Godiva gave him a receipt that showed his credit card number's first six and last four digits. Dr. Muransky sought to represent a class of customers whose credit card numbers Godiva printed on receipts in violation of FACTA. These violations, the complaint says, exposed Dr. Muransky and the class "to an elevated risk of identity theft." According to the complaint, Godiva's violation of FACTA was willful, so the class was entitled to statutory and punitive damages, as well as attorney's fees and costs. See id. § 1681n(a).

Godiva moved to dismiss the complaint on the ground that it did not plausibly allege a willful violation of FACTA. The District Court denied Godiva's motion. After that, the parties engaged in discovery then mediated the case. In late November 2015, the parties notified the court of an agreement in principle to settle the case on a class-wide basis. They requested a stay, which the court granted.

Two months after that request, Dr. Muransky moved for preliminary approval of the class-action settlement. He explained that the parties agreed to a settlement fund of $ 6.3 million from which all fees, costs, and class members would be paid. He estimated that class members who submitted a timely claim form would receive around $ 235 as their pro-rata share of the settlement fund. None of the money would revert to Godiva. Dr. Muransky indicated he intended to apply for an incentive award of up to $ 10,000 and that class counsel would move for an award of attorney's fees of up to one-third of the settlement fund, which would be $ 2.1 million.

In this motion, Dr. Muransky also argued that the amount class members *1182would recover by submitting a claim compared favorably to their possible recovery had the case proceeded to trial. FACTA provides for a combination of actual and statutory damages. 15 U.S.C. § 1681n(a). For statutory damages, FACTA provides for an award of $ 100 to $ 1,000 for each violation. Id. § 1681n(a)(1)(A). Given the nature of the violation, Dr. Muransky acknowledged there was "a good chance" each class member would recover the $ 100 minimum statutory damage award if the case went to trial. At the fairness hearing, the District Court agreed with Dr. Muransky's assessment, saying it was reasonable for class counsel to have estimated that class members "could [receive] more than double what the class members could get if they went to trial and won the case."

Dr. Muransky's motion also addressed some of the risks that favored pre-trial settlement. Most notably, Dr. Muransky pointed to two cases then pending before the Supreme Court: Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, 578 U.S. ----, 136 S.Ct. 1540, 194 L.Ed.2d 635 (2016), on Article III standing, and Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo, 577 U.S. ----, 136 S.Ct. 1036, 194 L.Ed.2d 124 (2016), on class certification under

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922 F.3d 1175, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dr-david-s-muransky-v-godiva-chocolatier-inc-ca11-2019.