Shurland v. Bacci Café & Pizzeria On Ogden Inc.

259 F.R.D. 151, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 73309, 2009 WL 2567913
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedAugust 19, 2009
DocketNo. 08 CV 2259
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 259 F.R.D. 151 (Shurland v. Bacci Café & Pizzeria On Ogden Inc.) 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
Shurland v. Bacci Café & Pizzeria On Ogden Inc., 259 F.R.D. 151, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 73309, 2009 WL 2567913 (N.D. Ill. 2009).

Opinion

[154]*154 MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

REBECCA R. PALLMEYER, District Judge.

On August 11, 2007, Bacci Café & Pizzeria on Odgen, Inc. (“Bacci” or “Defendant”) issued to Plaintiff Christopher D. Shurland (“Shurland” or “Plaintiff’) a credit card receipt displaying Shurland’s entire credit card number and expiration date. In so doing, Bacci violated the Pair and Accurate Transactions Act of 2003 (“FACTA”), an amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), 15 U.S.C. § 1681 c(g). FACTA provides that “no person that accepts credit cards or debit cards for the transaction of business shall print 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 sale or transaction.” Id. A willful failure to comply with the Act permits the recovery of actual or statutory damages “not less than $100 and not more than $1000.” 15 U.S.C. § 1681 n(a). Plaintiff seeks to represent a class of more than 6,000 consumers to whom Bacci allegedly issued receipts that violate FACTA.

Plaintiff commenced this suit in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Chancery Division, on March 21, 2008, and on April 21, 2008, Bacci timely removed to federal court. On February 22, 2009, Bacci lodged a third-party complaint for breach of contract and contribution against National Translink Corp. (“National Translink”), the company that supplied Bacci with its credit card processing machine. Three motions are pending before the court: Shurland has moved for class certification; Bacci has moved for summary judgment, arguing that Plaintiff cannot show that Bacci’s violations were willful; and National Tran-slink has moved to dismiss Bacci’s contribution claim. For the reasons set forth below, Plaintiffs motion for class certification is granted, Bacci’s motion for summary judgment is denied, and National Translink’s motion to dismiss is granted.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

On August 11, 2007, Plaintiff dined at Bacci Café & Pizzeria in Berwyn, Illinois, and received a cash register receipt displaying his entire credit card number and expiration date. (Def. 56.1 ¶7.) As of December 4, 2006, issuing a receipt that displays a customer’s entire credit card number and expiration date violates FACTA and may subject the issuer to statutory damages if the violation was willful. (Def. 56.1 ¶¶ 6-7); 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681c(g), 1681n(a).

On the day Plaintiff ate at Bacci, the restaurant processed customers’ credit card payments using a single credit card processing terminal it had purchased from National Translink, an independent sales organization that sells credit card processing services and terminals to small business owners. (Def. 56.1 ¶ 9; Tracy Dep. 6:21-24, Ex. E to PI. Mem. in Support of Class Cert.) Bacci obtained its first terminal from National Tran-slink in May 2004. To set up the terminal for use, Bacci filled out a bank application supplied by National Translink, and National Translink used the information in the application to obtain approval for Bacci’s machine from a processing center. (Def. 56.1 ¶¶ 10-11.) As part of the service it provided for its merchant clients (including Bacci), Translink coordinates the processing center’s programming of the client’s terminal as well as the credit card approvals necessary to process transactions on the terminal. (Def. 56.1 ¶ 11.) Once Translink contacts the processing center with its client’s information, the processing center transmits software to the client’s machine. (Def. 56.1 ¶ 12.) Thereafter, National Translink provides additional service in the form of technical support and answering its clients’ questions about the operation of the terminal. (Def. 56.1 ¶ 13.) Under the terms of Bacci’s contract with National Translink, Bacci was also a member of National Translink’s “Merchant Club,” which entitled Bacci to service on its machine or, if necessary, a replacement terminal in exchange for a set fee. (Def 56.1 ¶ 15.)

There is a dispute among the parties whether Defendant had notice of FACTA’s credit card receipt truncation requirements, which went into effect in December 2006. Defendant claims that it first received notice of the truncation requirements in October 2007, when a customer notified a Bacci employee that she had received a receipt dis[155]*155playing her entire credit card number and expiration date. (Def. 56.1 ¶¶ 33-34.) After learning of the truncation problem, Bacci claims it contacted National Translink to obtain service on its terminal. Bacci was unable to program the terminal to truncate properly without National Translink’s assistance, and, “starting immediately after the customer noticed the problem,” Bacci began truncating customer receipts “by manually crossing out the numbers” until National Translink could service the terminal. (Def. 56.1 ¶ 34.)'

Plaintiff has offered testimony from National Translink representatives and employees suggesting that Bacci received notice of FACTA requirements prior to October 2007. In early 2005, National Translink included a notice in its clients’ monthly billing statements advising its clients that their terminals must be “properly programmed” to truncate credit card numbers appearing on receipts. (Def. 56.1 ¶ 16; Tracy Dep. 28-29, 90, Ex. D to Def. 56.1.) James Tracy, the vice president of National Translink, testified that National Translink’s practice was to send this notice to all of its clients. (Pl. 56.1 ¶¶ 2-4; Tracy Dep. 28:6-12, Ex. E to Pl. Mot. to Certify Class.) Mr. Tracy could not confirm that National Translink had in fact sent Bacci a notification because all statements involving Visa and Mastercard transactions must by law be destroyed after two years. (Def. 56.1 Resp. ¶¶ 3-4.) Mr. Tracy did testify, however, that the notice would have been sent to “every billing address in our system at that time.” (Pl. 56.1 ¶ 4.)

In 2006, National Translink also placed Defendant on a list of approximately 200 clients it believed might not be in compliance with truncation requirements due to then-specific terminal model. (Def. 56.1 ¶ 18.) National Translink customer representatives Douglas Porch and Noel Carey had the responsibility of contacting the businesses identified on the list. (Pl. 56.1 ¶ 9.) Mr. Porch testified that he attempted to contact customers regarding FACTA requirements, and made a note on his list if he received no response. (Pl. 56.1 ¶ 14.) When Mr. Porch reached one of Translink’s clients, he informed the client of the FACTA requirements and then, depending on the terminal model, either transferred the client to National Translink’s technical support for further assistance or gave the client a separate number for a service center in California for consultation about a replacement machine. (Pl. 56.1 ¶¶ 11-14; Porch Dep. 47-49, Ex. F to Pl. Mem. to Certify Class.) Mr. Porch had no personal recollection of speaking with any Bacci representative. (Def. 5.1 Resp. ¶¶ 16-17.) Mr. Porch did, however, identify a document called an MCMTER1 report for Bacci Café and Pizzeria, which specified the type and model of machine owned by Bacci (a “Hypercom T7P”) and included Bacci’s contact information. (Pl. 56.1 ¶ 17; Porch Dep. 56, Ex. E to Def. 56.1.) Mr.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
259 F.R.D. 151, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 73309, 2009 WL 2567913, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shurland-v-bacci-cafe-pizzeria-on-ogden-inc-ilnd-2009.