U.S. Sup. Ct.
11-192
Respondent Bormes, an attorney, filed suit against the Federal Government, alleging that the electronic receipt he received when paying his clients federal-court filing fee on Pay.gov included the last four digits of his credit card number and the cards expiration date, in willful violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), 15 U. S. C. §1681 et seq. He sought damages under §1681n and asserted jurisdiction under §1681p, as well as under the Little Tucker Act, which grants district courts original jurisdiction, concurrent with the United States Court of Federal Claims, of … [a]ny… civil action or claim against the United States, not exceeding $10,000 in amount, founded … upon … any Act of Congress, 28 U. S. C. §1346(a)(2). In dismissing the suit, the District Court held that FCRA did not explicitly waive the Federal Governments sovereign immunity. Bormes appealed to the Federal Circuit, which vacated the District Courts decision, holding that the Little Tucker Act provided the Governments consent to suit because the underlying statuteFCRAcould fairly be interpreted as mandating a right of recovery in damages.
