On January 9, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit reversed a district court’s partial grant of summary judgment and remanded a class action under the FCRA. The appeal addressed whether both named and unnamed class members seeking monetary damages must demonstrate standing at the summary judgment stage. The 9th Circuit concluded that class members must establish standing at the summary judgment stage but are not required to prove that a jury would necessarily find in their favor.
The case stemmed from a class action filed on October 5, 2020, following the denial of a consumer’s life insurance application. According to the plaintiff’s complaint, the defendant, a risk management benefits company, erroneously linked the consumer’s medical information in a report and denied his request. The consumer alleged that the firm’s inaccurate reporting violated the FCRA’s mandate that consumer reporting agencies adopt reasonable procedures to ensure maximum possible accuracy.
On appeal, the 9th Circuit agreed that standing must be demonstrated for all class members but emphasized that the standard follows usual summary judgment principles, requiring only a genuine dispute of material fact. The case was remanded for the district court to assess whether the plaintiff had provided sufficient circumstantial evidence for class-wide standing.
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