United States District Court Judge Marilyn L. Huff recently certified a FCRA settlement class, granted final approval of class settlement, and approved the plaintiffs’ request for attorneys’ fees and costs. Feist v. Petco Animal Supplies, Inc., 2018 WL 6040801 (S.D. Cal. Nov. 16, 2018).

The lead plaintiffs in Feist applied for jobs at Defendant Petco.  The Complaint alleged that Petco obtained consumer reports detailing the plaintiffs’ financial histories without first providing the plaintiffs with notice as required by FCRA, 15 U.S.C. § 1681.  Judge Huff certified the following class:

All persons regarding whom Defendant procured or caused to be procured a consumer report for employment purposes during the period from May 1, 2014 through December 31, 2015. Included in the Settlement Class is a subclass consisting of those against whom Petco took an adverse action subsequent to procuring a consumer report and did not receive a pre-adverse action notification letter.

Judge Huff described the settlement as “quite favorable” for the class.  Petco agreed to pay $1,200,000 to establish a nonreversionary settlement fund. Under the approved settlement, the lead plaintiffs would receive $10,000 as an incentive award and the attorneys would receive a $300,000 fee award plus up to $15,725.26 to cover costs.  Up to $114,028.88 would go towards paying the settlement administrator.  The estimated 37,279 members of the Disclosure Class would receive approximately $20 each, while the estimated 52 members of the Adverse Action Subclass would receive an additional $150.