Supreme Court To Rule On "No-Harm" Damages In Privacy Suits

Later this year the Supreme Court will hear a case in which a consumer filed a putative class action under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, without claiming he had suffered actual harm. The case, Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, will settle a question on which the circuits have split. The question is whether a plaintiff who has suffered no concrete harm has standing to mount a private action based on “on a bare violation of a federal statute.” Attorneys from Arent Fox discuss the case and the dramatic impact it could have on the viability of class action lawsuits filed under FCRA, as well as a number of other federal statutes that also allow plaintiffs to recover statutory damages “where actual damages for violations may be difficult to prove or quantify.”