In re Horizon Healthcare Services – 3d
Cir. – January 20, 2017
The
dispute at the bottom of this putative class action began when two laptops,
containing sensitive personal information, were stolen from health insurer
Horizon Healthcare Services, Inc.
The
four named Plaintiffs filed suit on behalf of themselves and other Horizon
customers whose personal information was stored on those laptops. They allege
willful and negligent violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), 15
U.S.C. § 1681, et seq., as well as numerous violations of state law. Essentially, they say that Horizon
inadequately protected their personal information.
The
District Court dismissed the suit under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure
12(b)(1) for lack of Article III standing. According to the Court, none of the
Plaintiffs had claimed a cognizable injury because, although their personal information
had been stolen, none of them had adequately alleged that the information was
actually used to their detriment. We
will vacate and remand.
In
light of the congressional decision to create a remedy for the unauthorized
transfer of personal information, a violation of FCRA gives rise to an injury
sufficient for Article III standing purposes. Even without evidence that the
Plaintiffs’ information was in fact used improperly, the alleged disclosure of
their personal information created a de facto injury. Accordingly, all of the
Plaintiffs suffered a cognizable injury, and the Complaint should not have been
dismissed under Rule 12(b)(1).
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