Marilena Murphy, individually and on behalf of a class of other similarly situated persons v. Dollar Tree, Inc.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina granted the plaintiff’s motion to remand a putative class action alleging violations of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act. The court held that the plaintiff’s alleged receipt digit-truncation violation and related harms did not establish a concrete injury-in-fact under Article III, leaving the court without subject-matter jurisdiction, and remanded the case to Buncombe County Superior Court.

Holdings

1. A FACTA digit-truncation violation, standing alone, does not establish Article III standing; the plaintiff must identify a concrete injury, including a nonspeculative risk of identity theft or another legally cognizable harm.
2. Because Plaintiff lacked Article III standing, the district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction and was required to remand the action to state court.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Plaintiff alleged a concrete injury-in-fact sufficient to establish Article III standing for a FACTA digit-truncation claim.
2. Whether the district court had subject matter jurisdiction over the removed action when Plaintiff lacked Article III standing.
3. Whether the action should be remanded to state court under 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c).

Disposition

remanded