Judge Eric Vitaliano
Katz’s cash register receipt from Au Bon Pain (ABP) included his credit card’s first and last four digits, and its expiration date. Section 1681c(g) of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) provides that no person accepting credit cards shall print more than the last five digits of its number or the expiration date on any receipt provided at the point of sale or transaction. The court denied dismissal of Katz’s complaint claiming ABP’s willful violation of §1681(c) mandated statutory damages of $100 to $1,000 per violation, and attorney fees and costs. Under the Supreme Court’s decision in Safeco Ins. of Amer. v. Burr, Katz can state a plausible FACTA willful violation by alleging ABP issued a receipt from a cash register exclusively maintained, programmed and operated by or solely at the request of ABP. It was reasonable to infer that ABP either intended or recklessly permitted the receipt to contain personal credit card identifying information prohibited by FACTA. Safeco teaches that either reckless or intentional "states of mind" support a claim of wilful violation of FACTA, and that a complaint alleging such facts with the reasonable inferences they permit meets the plausibility requirement of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2).
