On March 23, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida granted preliminary approval of a nearly $31 million Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act ("FACTA") class action settlement against Doctor's Associates, Inc., doing business as Subway – the largest settlement to date in the history of FACTA.
According to the complaint, named plaintiff Shane Flaum purchased items from one of Subway's restaurants in Florida. Flaum paid with a Visa debit card and was presented with a receipt bearing the full expiration date and the last four digits of his card. FACTA provides that "no person that accepts credit cards or debit cards for the transaction of business shall print more than the last 5 digits of the card number or the expiration date upon any receipt provided to the cardholder at the point of sale or transaction." Flaum filed this putative class action alleging that certain Subway franchise retail stores printed transaction receipts that revealed the full expiration date of purchasers' debit and credit card numbers, in willful violation of FACTA.
As we previously reported, Subway originally filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to the Supreme Court's decision in Spokeo. The Court denied Subway's motion, and the parties subsequently engaged in discovery and mediation.
The parties ultimately reached a settlement and have agreed to certify for settlement purposes a class of all Subway patrons who received receipts upon purchase, between January 1, 2016 and the date of preliminary approval, that showed their credit and debit cards' full expiration dates. Settlement class members who submit a timely claim will split the $30,900,000 settlement fund.
A final fairness hearing is scheduled for October 11, 2017.
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