Summary
This Opinion and Order grants the plaintiff's motion to remand a Fair Credit Reporting Act and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act case back to state court. The court held that the plaintiff's alleged injuries, limited to emotional distress and its contextual manifestations, do not constitute a concrete injury-in-fact required for Article III standing. Consequently, the federal district court lacks subject matter jurisdiction and directs the clerk to remand the matter to the Tippecanoe County Circuit Court in Indiana.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether Plaintiff's alleged emotional distress and related behavioral changes constituted a concrete injury in fact sufficient to confer Article III standing.
- Whether the federal court was required to remand the removed action under 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c) because Plaintiff lacked Article III standing.
Holdings
- Under Seventh Circuit precedent, emotional distress alone is not a concrete injury sufficient to confer Article III standing, and Plaintiff's alleged behavioral changes did not qualify as concrete physical manifestations of emotional distress.
- Because Plaintiff did not allege a concrete injury in fact, she lacked Article III standing and the federal court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction; the case therefore had to be remanded to state court.
Key quotations
“If at any time before final judgment it appears that the district court lacks subject matter jurisdiction, the case shall be remanded.” (Legal Standard)
“Therefore, under Seventh Circuit precedent, Plaintiff has not alleged a concrete injury, and she does not have Article III standing.” (Discussion)
Factual background
Plaintiff alleged that disputed information appeared in her credit file and asserted claims under the FCRA and FDCPA. She later abandoned a claim that Defendant sold her credit report to a third party, leaving emotional distress as the basis for her damages. Defendant argued that statements in Plaintiff's state-court summary-judgment briefing described additional physical or behavioral injuries, including unusual conduct, facial expressions, avoidance of physical contact, and avoidance of family activities.
Procedural history
Plaintiff originally filed the action in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, in May 2023, and Defendant removed it to the Northern District of Indiana. After Plaintiff amended her complaint to eliminate a claim concerning the sale of her credit report and limited her damages to emotional distress, the federal court held that emotional distress did not constitute an injury in fact and remanded the case to state court in July 2024. Defendant removed the case again in February 2025, asserting that Plaintiff's state-court filings identified additional injuries sufficient to establish standing. The court granted Plaintiff's second motion to remand.
Remand instructions
The Clerk of Court was directed to remand the matter to the Tippecanoe County, Indiana, Circuit Court.