Coverage Disputes Arise Out Of Rash Of Consumer Class Actions

Since the California Supreme Court's decision this February in Pineda v. Williams-Sonoma Stores, Inc., 51 Cal. 4th 524 (2011), scores of plaintiffs have filed class action suits in that state's courts against more than 100 retailers that require customers to provide their ZIP codes during credit card transactions.

In Pineda, the court held that a consumer's ZIP code constitutes "personal identification information" for purposes of the Song-Beverly Credit Card Act of 1971, California Civil Code, §1747 et seq. (the Credit Card Act), and that, therefore, a business that requests and records a customer's ZIP code during a credit card transaction violates the Credit Card Act. A business that violates the Credit Card Act is subject to a civil penalty of up to $250 for the first violation and up to $1,000 for each subsequent violation.