Seventh Circuit Rules Consumers Have Standing to Sue in Neiman Marcus Payment Card Data Breach Case
In Remijas v. Neiman Marcus Group, LLC, the Seventh Circuit reversed a district court decision dismissing consumer payment card data breach claims for lack of standing. The appellate panel held that injuries consisting of 1) lost time and money resolving the fraudulent charges, and 2) lost time and money protecting against future identity theft, were sufficient to confer Article III standing for consumers to bring suit. The district court, following Clapper v. Amnesty Intʹl USA, 133 S. Ct. 1138 (2013), had construed plaintiffs' allegations of potential future harms to be too remote to confer standing. The Seventh Circuit distinguished Clapper, finding that Clapper does not foreclose suit based on all future harm, just suit based on speculative future harm. Unlike Clapper, which concerned potential NSA interceptions of the plaintiffs' communications, Remijas alleged actual theft of payment card data, making the potential for misuse of that information, in the Seventh Circuit's view, not unduly speculative. Accordingly, costs to...
