Newsroom - October 2008
David Russell and Jodi Zysek (in addition to many other defense counsel across the country) counted a big win when the Eastern District of Texas dismissed a class action brought on behalf of all Texas driver’s license holders against dozens of entities, including our client, which had purchased from the Texas Department of Public Safety certain driver information. Our client is a check verification company that screens checks at the point of sale for many retail merchants. A valid driver’s license is often a prerequisite for a merchant’s acceptance of a check, which information is verified against known driver’s license data obtained from state databases.
Liquidated damages under the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act, the statute at issue could have amounted to $2,500 per individual. With 20 million potential class members, damages could have been staggering. A Western District of Louisiana Judge sitting by special designation (because all judges in Texas were potential class members) agreed that the plaintiffs had failed to state a claim because they could not allege that their information was obtained for an improper purpose.