Ruling Triggers Flurry of ZIP Code Suits
Kate Moser
Justice Carlos Moreno, California Supreme Court
Image: Jason Doiy/The Recorder
SAN FRANCISCO — A San Francisco plaintiff firm filed six proposed class actions Monday seeking to penalize retailers for requesting ZIP codes from customers paying with a credit card, less than a week after the state Supreme Court ruled that practice is illegal.
Kassra Nassiri of Nassiri & Jung filed the suits — targeting Old Navy, Target Corp., Macy's Inc., Cost Plus Inc., Toys "R" Us Inc. and Trader Joe's Co. — on behalf of named plaintiff Heather Robertson.
California Supreme Court Justice Carlos Moreno, writing for the unanimous court last week, said retailers violate a consumer protection statute when they ask card-using customers for ZIP codes. ZIP codes constitute personal identification information, the court held, and requesting and recording that data from cardholders violates The Song-Beverly Credit Card Act of 1971. When paired with the cardholder's name, the ZIP code allows retailers to find a home mailing address.
Another 10 class actions making similar claims were filed by a handful of other law firms in Los Angeles on Monday, said Michael Burns, a partner in Seyfarth Shaw's San Francisco office who's tracking the litigation and has handled a similar case in the past.
The San Francisco suits filed Monday contend that "if successful, this action will enforce an important right affecting the public interest and will confer a significant benefit, whether pecuniary or non-pecuniary, on a large class of persons."
Retailers can be forced to pay up to $1,000 for each violation of the act.
"The potential statutory damages could be what they call 'annihilating,'" Burns said.
Nassiri didn't respond to messages today. The high court's decision last week emphasized that the statute lists maximum penalties but that courts have discretion over how badly retailers get penalized.
Retailers are bracing for those penalties and for more class actions. After Monday's "banner day" for the ZIP-code litigation, Burns said, "I have a feeling there's a lot more coming."
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