Dustin Smith v. SentryLink, LLC

Summary

The United States District Court for the District of Maryland denied SentryLink, LLC’s motion to dismiss an amended complaint alleging that SentryLink violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by misattributing criminal convictions to Dustin Smith in a consumer report. The court held that Smith plausibly alleged both that the report was misleadingly inaccurate and that SentryLink failed to use reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy under 15 U.S.C. § 1681e(b).

Holdings

1. Smith plausibly alleged that SentryLink's report was inaccurate because, although it may have been technically correct that another person with a similar name had the listed convictions, the report could have been misleading in a way that adversely affected Smith's employment prospects.
2. Smith plausibly alleged that SentryLink failed to use reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy.
3. The court exercised its discretion to consider SentryLink's reasonable-procedures argument because Smith addressed that issue in his opposition.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Smith plausibly alleged that SentryLink's consumer report contained inaccurate or misleading information under 15 U.S.C. § 1681e(b).
2. Whether Smith plausibly alleged that SentryLink failed to follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy under 15 U.S.C. § 1681e(b).
3. Whether the court should consider SentryLink's reasonable-procedures argument, raised for the first time in its reply brief.

Disposition

other