Harris v. Best Buy Co.

254 F.R.D. 82, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22166, 2008 WL 4378476
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedMarch 20, 2008
DocketNo. 07 C 2559
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 254 F.R.D. 82 (Harris v. Best Buy Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Harris v. Best Buy Co., 254 F.R.D. 82, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22166, 2008 WL 4378476 (N.D. Ill. 2008).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

AMY J. ST. EYE, District Judge.

Plaintiff William Harris, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, brings the present one-count class action Amended Complaint alleging that Best Buy Co. Inc. and Bestbuy.com, LLC (collectively “Best Buy”) violated the Fair and Accurate Transactions Act of 2003 (“FACTA”) amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq. Before the Court is Harris’ Motion for Class Certification pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23. For the following reasons, the [84]*84Court, in its discretion, grants Harris’ motion.

BACKGROUND

In his Amended Complaint, Harris alleges that Best Buy willfully violated Section 1681e(g) of FACTA, and thus failed to protect Harris and others against identity theft and credit card and debit card fraud by printing more than the last five digits of the card number and/or the expiration date on receipts provided to debit card and credit card cardholders transacting business with Best Buy. (R. 54-1, Amend.Compl. H 4.) Harris brings his claim under 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(g), which provides:

No person that accepts credit cards or debit cards for the transaction of business shall print more than the last five digits of the card number or the expiration date upon any receipt provided to the cardholder at the point of sale or transaction.

15 U.S.C. § 1681c(g)(l). Harris further alleges that Best Buy was aware of FACTA’s truncation requirement that started on December 4, 2006, yet when he made a purchase from Best Buy’s website on May 15, 2007, a computer generated receipt displayed his credit card’s expiration date. (Id. HH12, 13.)

Harris brings this action on behalf of a class. (Id. 1114.) In the Amended Complaint, Harris defines the proposed class as follows:

The class is defined as all persons in Illinois to whom Best Buy provided an electronically printed receipt at the point of sale or transaction, in a transaction occurring after December 4, 2006, which receipt displays either (a) more than the last five digits of the person[’s] credit card or debit card number, and/or (b) the expiration date of the person’s credit or debit card.

(Id. U15.)

LEGAL STANDARD

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(a) states that “[o]ne or more members of a class may sue or be sued as representative parties on behalf of all only if (1) the class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable, (2) there are questions of law or fact common to the class, (3) the claims or defenses of the representative parties are typical of the claims or defenses of the class, and (4) the representative parties will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(a); Oshana v. CocaCola Co., 472 F.3d 506, 513 (7th Cir.2006) (class must satisfy requirements of numerosity, commonality, typicality, and adequacy of representation). Failure to meet any of these Rule 23(a) requirements precludes class certification. Harriston v. Chicago Tribune Co., 992 F.2d 697, 703 (7th Cir.1993).

In addition to satisfying the requirements under Rule 23(a), a party seeking class certification must also establish that the proposed class satisfies one of the requirements set forth in Rule 23(b). Amchem Prods., Inc. v. Windsor, 521 U.S. 591, 614, 117 S.Ct. 2231, 138 L.Ed.2d 689 (1997); Oshana, 472 F.3d at 513. In this case, Harris requests certification of the proposed class pursuant to Rule 23(b)(3), which applies when “the questions of law or fact common to the members of the class predominate over any questions affecting only individual members, and that a class action is superior to other available methods for the fair and efficient adjudication of the controversy.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(b)(3); see also Amchem Prods., 521 U.S. at 615, 117 S.Ct. 2231. As the Seventh Circuit instructs, “Rule 23(b)(3) was designed for situations ... in which the potential recovery is too slight to support individual suits, but injury is substantial in the aggregate.” Murray v. GMAC Mortgage Corp., 434 F.3d 948, 953 (7th Cir.2006). Under Rule 23(b)(3), members of a certified class may opt out and pursue their claims individually. Id.; In re Allstate Ins. Co., 400 F.3d 505, 508 (7th Cir.2005).

The party seeking class certification bears the burden of establishing that certification is proper. See Oshana, 472 F.3d at 513; Retired Chicago Police Ass’n v. City of Chicago, 7 F.3d 584, 596 (7th Cir.1993). In determining whether a party has carried that burden, a court need not accept all of the complaint’s allegations as true. See Szabo v. Bridgeport Mach., Inc., 249 F.3d 672, 675 (7th Cir.2001). Rather, in deciding whether to certify a class, [85]*85the court “should make whatever factual and legal inquiries are necessary under Rule 23.” Id. at 676. Finally, district courts have broad discretion in determining motions for class certification. See Reiter v. Sonotone Corp., 442 U.S. 330, 345, 99 S.Ct. 2326, 2334, 60 L.Ed.2d 931 (1979) (Rule 23 vests district courts with broad power and discretion); Payton v. County of Carroll, 473 F.3d 845, 847 (7th Cir.2007) (appellate review of district court’s class certification is for abuse of discretion).

ANALYSIS

I. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(a) A. Numerosity

To satisfy the numerosity requirement under Rule 23(a)(1), Harris must show that the number of members in the proposed class is so large that joinder would be impracticable. See Pruitt v. City of Chicago, Ill., 472 F.3d 925, 926 (7th Cir.2006).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Shlahtichman v. 1-800 CONTACTS, INC.
615 F.3d 794 (Seventh Circuit, 2010)
Shurland v. Bacci Café & Pizzeria On Ogden Inc.
259 F.R.D. 151 (N.D. Illinois, 2009)
Leysoto v. Mama Mia I., Inc.
255 F.R.D. 693 (S.D. Florida, 2009)
Irvine v. 233 SKYDECK, LLC
597 F. Supp. 2d 799 (N.D. Illinois, 2009)
Smith v. Under Armour, Inc.
593 F. Supp. 2d 1281 (S.D. Florida, 2008)
King v. MOVIEICKETS. COM, INC.
555 F. Supp. 2d 1339 (S.D. Florida, 2008)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
254 F.R.D. 82, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22166, 2008 WL 4378476, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/harris-v-best-buy-co-ilnd-2008.