New Jersey Supreme Court has granted cert in Baskin v. P.C. Richard & Son, LLC.  Plaintiffs are appealing an appellate division decision upholding the trial court denial of class certification at the pleading stage.  

The putative class action alleges violations of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), which prohibits retailers who accept credit or debit cards from printing the expiration date or more than the last five digits of the card number on receipts. Consumers who have suffered violations are entitled to recover penalties of at least $100.

The appellate division found the analysis from the long standing Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) decision of Local Baking Products Inc v. Kosher Bagel Munch Inc. was applicable to class certification under FACTA.  As both statutes provided as statutory penalties “a sum considerably in excess of any real or sustained damages,” the court concluded that the aggrieved party had “an incentive to act in his or her own interest without the necessity of class action relief.”

The court also noted the dual objectives underlying the FACTA legislation: both “to ensure that consumers suffering from any actual harm to their credit or identity are protected” while also “limiting abusive lawsuits that do not protect consumers but only result in increased cost to business and potentially increased prices to consumers.”

Please contact Alida Kass if you would like to discuss this case further