Bateman v. American Multi-Cinema, Inc.

FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

MICHAEL BATEMAN, individually 
and on behalf of all others No. 09-55108
similarly situated, D.C. No.
Plaintiff-Appellant,
 2:07-cv-00171-
v. FMC-AJW
AMERICAN MULTI-CINEMA, INC., OPINION
Defendant-Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Central District of California
Florence-Marie Cooper, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted
May 4, 2010—Pasadena, California

Filed September 27, 2010

Before: Betty B. Fletcher and Richard A. Paez,
Circuit Judges, and Donald E. Walter, Senior District Judge.*

Opinion by Judge Paez

*The Honorable Donald E. Walter, Senior United States District Judge
for the Western District of Louisiana, sitting by designation.

16357
 BATEMAN v. AMERICAN MULTI-CINEMA 16361

COUNSEL

Gregory N. Karasik, Spiro Moss LLP, Los Angeles, Califor-
nia, for plaintiff-appellant Michael Bateman.

Robert H. Platt, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP, Los Angeles,
California, for defendant-appellee American Multi-Cinema,
Inc.

Adel James Chareq, Hudson Cook LLP, Washington D.C., for
amicus curiae Consumer Data Industry Association.

OPINION

PAEZ, Circuit Judge:

In this Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act
(“FACTA”) case, Plaintiff-Appellant Michael Bateman
appeals the district court’s denial of class certification. Bate-
man sued American Multi-Cinema, Inc., (“AMC”) on behalf
of a class of similarly situated individuals, alleging that AMC
violated FACTA by printing more than the last five digits of
consumers’ credit or debit card numbers on electronically
printed receipts in December 2006 and January 2007. See 15
U.S.C. § 1681c(g) (2005). On behalf of himself and other
consumers who received such receipts, Bateman sought to
recover statutory damages ranging from $100 to $1,000 for
16362 BATEMAN v. AMERICAN MULTI-CINEMA
each willful violation of FACTA. The district court denied
class certification under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure
23(b)(3) (“Rule 23(b)(3)”), finding that a class action was not
the superior method of litigating the case because AMC had
made a good faith effort to comply with FACTA after this
lawsuit was filed and the magnitude of AMC’s potential
liability—$29 million to $290 million—was enormous and
out of proportion to any harm suffered by the class. See Bate-
man v. Am. Multi-Cinema, Inc., 252 F.R.D 647, 648, 650-51
(C.D. Cal. 2008) (order). Bateman appeals, arguing that the
district court abused its discretion in denying class certifica-
tion. We agree that none of these three grounds—the dispro-
portionality between the potential liability and the actual harm
suffered, the enormity of the potential damages, or AMC’s
good faith compliance—justified the denial of class certifica-
tion on superiority grounds and that the district court abused
its discretion in relying on them. We therefore reverse the
denial of class certification and remand for further proceed-
ings.

I

In 2007, Bateman filed a complaint against AMC, on
behalf of himself and those individuals similarly situated,
alleging violations of FACTA. Bateman alleged that from
December 2006 to January 2007, AMC issued credit and debit
card receipts from some of its automated box offices that
included both the first four and the last four digits of the credit
card, a violation of FACTA. To protect against identity theft,
FACTA requires, in relevant part, that credit and debit card
receipts issued to consumers not reflect the expiration date or
more than the last five digits of the card number. See 15
U.S.C. § 1681c(g)(1). FACTA incorporates the Fair Credit
Reporting Act’s (“FCRA”) statutory damages provision,
which allows a consumer to recover damages between $100
and $1,000 for each willful1 violation of FACTA without hav-
1
A “willful” violation under the FCRA includes “not only knowing vio-
lations of a standard, but reckless ones as well.” Safeco Ins. Co. of Am. v.
 BATEMAN v. AMERICAN MULTI-CINEMA 16363
ing to prove actual damages. See id. § 1681n. In the com-
plaint, Bateman did not allege any actual harm to his identity
resulting from the claimed violations.

After conducting discovery, Bateman filed a motion for
class certification under Rule 23(b)(3). Bateman sought to
certify a class of individuals who, between December 4, 2006,
and January 29, 2007, had used a credit card or debit card to
purchase a movie ticket from an automated box office at an
AMC theater and who received a receipt that included the first
four and last four digits of the person’s credit/debit card num-
ber. An AMC internal review conducted after the lawsuit was
filed revealed that more than 290,000 receipts had been
printed in violation of FACTA during the relevant period.

The district court denied Bateman’s motion for class certifi-
cation without prejudice, concluding that Bateman had failed
to demonstrate that a class action would be superior to other
available methods of adjudicating his claim, as required under
Rule 23(b)(3). In particular, the district court denied certifica-
tion because, in its opinion, class treatment could result in
enormous liability completely out of proportion to any harm
suffered by the plaintiff. The district court further concluded
that class certification was not appropriate because AMC
demonstrated good faith by complying with FACTA within a
few weeks of the filing of Bateman’s complaint.2

Burr, 551 U.S. 47, 57 (2007). A defendant acts in reckless disregard if the
defendant’s action “is not only a violation under a reasonable reading of
the statute’s terms, but shows that the company ran a risk of violating the
law substantially greater than the risk associated with a reading that was
merely careless.” Id. at 69. That is, the defendant must have taken action
involving “ ‘an unjustifiably high risk of harm that is either known or so
obvious that it should be known.’ ” Id. at 68 (quoting Farmer v. Brennan,
511 U.S. 825, 836 (1994)). Where a plaintiff alleges a negligent violation
of FACTA, as opposed to a willful one, only actual damages are available.
15 U.S.C. § 1681o.
2
Within two weeks of the filing of Bateman’s complaint, AMC modi-
fied its machines to comply with FACTA.
16364 BATEMAN v. AMERICAN MULTI-CINEMA
After denying Bateman’s motion to certify, the district
court approved the parties’ stipulation to stay the case pend-
ing the outcome of an appeal in a different case raising an
issue identical to the one presented here. See Soualian v. Int’l
Coffee & Tea, LLC, No. CV 07-0502-RGK (JCx), 2008 WL
410618 (C.D. Cal. Feb. 9, 2008). That case, however, settled
while the appeal was pending. In the meantime, Congress
amended FACTA to address prevalent misunderstandings
about FACTA’s requirements and to provide businesses some
measure of protection from lawsuits resulting from those mis-
understandings. See Credit and Debit Card Receipt Clarifica-
tion Act of 2007, Pub. L. No. 110-241, 122 Stat. 1565 (2008)
(“Clarification Act”). The district court subsequently
instructed the parties to file supplemental briefing on the
appropriateness of class certification in light of that amend-
ment. After considering the supplemental briefs, the district
court denied with prejudice Bateman’s renewed motion for
class certification for largely the same reasons as before,
although the court additionally noted that, because Bateman
had alleged no actual harm, class certification would not fur-
ther the purpose and policy of FACTA. See Bateman, 252
F.R.D at 650. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure
23(f), Bateman petitioned this court for permission to appeal
the denial of class certification. We granted his request.

II

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23, “[a] class action
may be maintained if two conditions are met: The suit must
satisfy the criteria set forth in subdivision (a) (i.e., numero-
sity, commonality, typicality, and adequacy of representa-
tion), and it also must fit into one of the three categories
described in subdivision (b).” Shady Grove Orthopedic
Assocs., P.A. v. Allstate Ins. Co., 130 S. Ct. 1431, 1437 (2010)
(internal quotation marks omitted). Subdivision (b)(3), at
issue in this appeal, is satisfied if “the court finds that the
questions of law or fact common to class members predomi-
nate over any questions affecting only individual members,
 BATEMAN v. AMERICAN MULTI-CINEMA 16365
and that a class action is superior to other available methods
for fairly and efficiently adjudicating the controversy.” Fed.
R. Civ. P. 23(b)(3).

The decision to grant or deny class certification is within
the trial court’s discretion. Yamamoto v. Omiya, 564 F.2d
1319, 1325 (9th Cir. 1977). District courts are “in the best
position to consider the most fair and efficient procedure for
conducting any given litigation,” Doniger v. Pac. N.W. Bell,
Inc., 564 F.2d 1304, 1309 (9th Cir. 1977), and so must be
given “wide discretion” to evaluate superiority, Lerwill v.
Inflight Motion Pictures, Inc., 582 F.2d 507, 512 (9th Cir.
1978). We thus review for abuse of discretion a district
court’s order denying a motion for class certification. Zinser
v. Accufix Research Inst., Inc., 253 F.3d 1180, 1186 (9th Cir.
2001). A district court abuses its discretion when it makes an
error of law. Yokoyama v. Midland Nat’l Life Ins. Co., 594
F.3d 1087, 1091 (9th Cir. 2010). Additionally, in the context
of class certification, “[a]buse exists in three circumstances:
(1) reliance on an improper factor, (2) omission of a substan-
tial factor, or (3) a clear error of judgment in weighing the
correct mix of factors.” In re Wells Fargo Home Mortg. Over-
time Pay Litig., 571 F.3d 953, 957 (9th Cir. 2009).

III

The district court refused to certify the class because it con-
cluded that the proposed class failed to meet Rule 23(b)(3)’s
superiority requirement. See Bateman, 252 F.R.D. at 650-51.
At the heart of its ruling, the district court determined that
class treatment would render the magnitude of the defendant’s
potential liability “enormous and completely out of proportion
to any harm suffered by Plaintiff.” Id. at 651. In its first order
denying class certification without prejudice, the court also
considered significant AMC’s good faith efforts to bring its
machines into compliance with FACTA shortly after the law-
suit was filed. We conclude that none of these three grounds
—the disproportionality between the potential liability and the
16366 BATEMAN v. AMERICAN MULTI-CINEMA
actual harm suffered, the enormity of the potential damages,
or AMC’s good faith—justified the denial of class certifica-
tion and hold that the district court abused its discretion in
relying on them.

A. Proportionality Between Liability and Actual
Harm

The district court denied class certification in part because
it concluded that AMC’s liability would be “completely out
of proportion to any harm suffered by Plaintiff.” Id. at 651.
We therefore must consider whether Rule 23(b) permits con-
sideration of such a factor when deciding whether to certify
a class in a FACTA case. We hold that it does not.

[1] Rule 23 provides little, if any, guidance on this question.3
The rule provides a non-exhaustive list of factors relevant to
the superiority inquiry:

(A) the class members’ interests in individually con-
trolling the prosecution or defense of separate
actions;

(B) the extent and nature of any litigation concerning
the controversy already begun by or against class
members;

(C) the desirability or undesirability of concentrating
the litigation of the claims in the particular forum;
and

(D) the likely difficulties in managing a class action.
3
We reserve judgment, however, on whether Rule 23(b)(3) per se pro-
hibits consideration of a defendant’s potential liability in deciding whether
to certify a class. Because we conclude that considering such liability con-
travenes congressional intent under FACTA, we need not decide that
broader question.
 BATEMAN v. AMERICAN MULTI-CINEMA 16367
Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(b)(3). None of these enumerated factors
appear to authorize a court to consider whether certifying a
class would result in disproportionate damages. A court may
consider other, non-listed factors, however, and we have sug-
gested that a broad inquiry is appropriate:

“Superiority must be looked at from the point of
view (1) of the judicial system, (2) of the potential
class members, (3) of the present plaintiff, (4) of the
attorneys for the litigants, (5) of the public at large
and (6) of the defendant. The listing is not necessar-
ily in order of importance of the respective interests.
Superiority must also be looked at from the point of
view of the issues.”

Kamm v. Cal. City Dev. Co., 509 F.2d 205, 212 (9th Cir.
1975) (quoting Katz v. Carte Blanche Corp., 496 F.2d 747,
760 (3d Cir. 1974)). That list, however, leaves two key ques-
tions unanswered: (1) what does it mean to look at superiority
from “the point of view” of a defendant, and (2) can that
inquiry consider whether the defendant’s potential liability is
proportional to the actual harm alleged?

Nor do the Advisory Committee Notes shed any light on
the question. In its Note to Amended Rule 23, the Advisory
Committee explains:

Subdivision (b)(3) encompasses those cases in which
a class action would achieve economies of time,
effort, and expense, and promote uniformity of deci-
sion as to persons similarly situated, without sacrific-
ing procedural fairness or bringing about other
undesirable results.

39 F.R.D. 69, 102-03 (emphasis added). AMC contends that
imposing potential enormous and disproportional liability
would constitute just such “undesirable results.” The Advi-
sory Committee, however, gives no further explanation of
16368 BATEMAN v. AMERICAN MULTI-CINEMA
what constitutes an “undesirable result[ ],” or of whether the
term contemplates only procedurally undesirable results (e.g.,
prejudicing individual plaintiffs’ ability to seek redress) or
also refers to substantively undesirable results (e.g., poten-
tially exposing a defendant to bankruptcy as a result of enor-
mous liability). Cf. Wolin v. Jaguar Land Rover N. Am., LLC,
Nos. 09-55104, 09-55105, 2010 WL 3222091, at *6 (9th Cir.
Aug. 17, 2010) (“Rule 23(b)(3)’s superiority test requires the
court to determine whether maintenance of . . . litigation as a
class action is efficient and whether it is fair.”).

[2] Although neither the Rule nor its legislative history
clearly expresses whether the proportionality between the
actual harm caused and the defendant’s potential liability is a
proper superiority consideration, many courts have assumed
as much. Ratner v. Chemical Bank New York Trust Co., 54
F.R.D. 412 (S.D.N.Y. 1972), was the first and seminal case to
deny class certification for proportionality reasons. There, the
district court denied class certification in a suit against Chem-
ical Bank for disclosure violations under the Truth in Lending
Act (“TILA”). Id. at 413, 416. The plaintiff sought to certify
a class of approximately 130,000 cardholders, each of whom
would have been entitled to at least a minimum statutory dam-
ages award of $100 under the statute. Id. at 414. In denying
class certification, the district court concluded that a class
action was not the superior method of adjudicating the claim
because the plaintiff had alleged only “technical” violations,
id. at 416,4 and “the allowance of thousands of minimum
recoveries like plaintiff’s would carry to an absurd and stulti-
fying extreme the specific and essentially inconsistent remedy
Congress prescribed as the means of private enforcement,” id.
at 414.
4
Unlike the “technical” violations alleged in Ratner, Bateman has
alleged “willful” violations of FACTA. A “willful” violation is not merely
“technical.” In order to prevail in the lawsuit, Bateman must demonstrate
either a “knowing” or “reckless” violation of the Act. See Safeco, 551 U.S.
at 57.
 BATEMAN v. AMERICAN MULTI-CINEMA 16369
Courts have heavily relied on Ratner’s reasoning for the
proposition that Rule 23(b)(3)’s superiority requirement
authorizes consideration of the proportionality between the
potential damages and the actual harm.5 See, e.g., Klay v.
Humana, Inc., 382 F.3d 1241, 1271 (11th Cir. 2004); Kline v.
Coldwell, Banker & Co., 508 F.2d 226, 234-35 (9th Cir.
1974); Wilcox v. Commerce Bank of Kansas City, 474 F.2d
336, 347 (10th Cir. 1973). In the context of plaintiffs seeking
to certify classes in FACTA cases, Ratner’s reasoning has
prevailed in the vast majority of district courts within this cir-
cuit. See, e.g., Azoiani v. Love’s Travel Stops and Country
Stores, Inc., No. EDCV 07-90 ODW (OPx), 2007 WL
4811627 (C.D. Cal. Dec. 18, 2007); Vartanian v. Estyle, Inc.,
No. CV 07-0307 DSF (RCx), 2007 WL 4812286 (C.D. Cal.
Nov. 26, 2007); Saunders v. Trattoria, No. CV 07-1060 SJO
(PJWx), 2007 WL 4812287 (C.D. Cal. Oct. 23 2007); Price
v. Lucky Strike Entm’t Inc., No. CV 07-960-ODW (MANx),
2007 WL 4812281 (C.D. Cal. Aug. 31, 2007); Najarian v.
Avis Rent A Car Sys., No. CV 07-588-RGK (Ex), 2007 WL
4682071 (C.D. Cal. June 11, 2007). But see Medrano v. WCG
Holdings, Inc., No. SACV 07-0506 JVS (RNBx), 2007 WL
4592113 (C.D. Cal. Oct. 15, 2007) (certifying a plaintiff class
despite noting the potential for disproportionate and enormous
liability).

By contrast, the one federal court of appeals to have
addressed this issue in the context of the FCRA rejected Rat-
ner’s reasoning. See Murray v. GMAC Mort. Corp., 434 F.3d
948 (7th Cir. 2006). There, the Seventh Circuit reversed the
district court’s denial of class certification, holding that con-
sidering a defendant’s potential enormous liability in the Rule
5
It is somewhat ironic that Ratner has played such a prominent role in
shaping the scope of the Rule 23 superiority analysis. The district judge
there specifically distanced himself from the “sweeping pronouncements”
about the role of Rule 23 made by the respective parties, and instead
emphasized his “molecular purpose” to rule only on the “specific case at
hand.” 54 F.R.D. at 413.
16370 BATEMAN v. AMERICAN MULTI-CINEMA
23(b)(3) superiority analysis was improper. Id. at 953-54.
Although that case did not involve an alleged violation of
FACTA, the Seventh Circuit’s analysis and conclusion are
instructive because FACTA and other provisions of the FCRA
share the same statutory damages provision, see 15 U.S.C.
§ 1681n. Accordingly, we discuss it in greater detail below.

AMC relies heavily on our opinion in Kline v. Coldwell,
Banker & Co. to defend the district court’s denial of class cer-
tification. In Kline, we considered an action brought against
Los Angeles County real estate brokers who had allegedly
conspired to fix brokerage commissions in violation of the
Sherman Act. 508 F.2d at 228. The plaintiffs in that case esti-
mated that, on the basis of 400,000 sales that occurred in Los
Angeles County during the relevant class period, their collec-
tive injury potentially amounted to $250 million. Id. at 234 &
n.5. They therefore claimed that they were entitled to approxi-
mately $750 million in damages under the treble damages
provision of the Sherman Act. Id. The district court certified
both a class of plaintiffs and of defendants, and an interlocu-
tory appeal followed. Id. at 228-29. We reversed, holding that
the action could not be maintained as a class action and that
the district court abused its discretion in conducting its superi-
ority analysis. Id. at 236.

Of the three justifications for our holding, one was our sig-
nificant concern over the amount of damages that might be
imposed jointly and severally on the individual defendants. Id.
at 235. Specifically, we noted that, if the plaintiffs were suc-
cessful, the defendants in the class would be jointly and sever-
ally liable for $750 million. Id. at 234. In reversing, we
reasoned that, “when 2,000 [defendant class members] are
joined in an action in which each is jointly and severally lia-
ble, the liability is increased in geometric progression. Such
an award against each of 2,000 real estate broker defendants
would shock the conscience” and lead to an “ad absurdum
result.” Id. at 234-35. We further noted that “ ‘the allowance
of thousands of minimum recoveries like plaintiff’s would
 BATEMAN v. AMERICAN MULTI-CINEMA 16371
carry to an absurd and stultifying extreme the specific and
essentially inconsistent remedy Congress prescribed as the
means of private enforcement.’ ” Id. at 234-35 (quoting Rat-
ner, 54 F.R.D. at 414). Thus, we held that a class action was
not the superior method of adjudicating the controversy. Id. at
235.

Kline, AMC argues, created binding circuit precedent that
Rule 23(b)(3) permits consideration of the proportionality of
the potential liability. That is an overbroad reading of Kline.
The basis of Kline’s conclusion was not simply that potential
liability would be disproportional to the harm incurred, but
rather that such liability would be inconsistent with congres-
sional intent in enacting the statutory damages provision. As
Kline explains, the treble damages provisions in the Clayton
and Sherman Acts act as statutory punitive measures in which
“ ‘two thirds of the recovery is not remedial and inevitably
presupposes a punitive purpose.’ ” Id. (quoting Lyons v. Wes-
tinghouse Elec. Corp., 222 F.2d 184, 189 (2d Cir. 1955)).
Thus, we concluded:

The intent of Congress under section 4 of the Clay-
ton Act, 15 U.S.C. [§ ] 15, appears to have been to
impose punishment upon the violator of section 1 of
the Sherman Act for his own malefactions[,] not to
subject him to vicarious liability by the coincidence
of a class action for the staggering damages of the
multitude.

Id. (emphasis added). That conclusion about congressional
intent was particularly sound given that the Clayton and Sher-
man Acts were enacted before the Supreme Court created the
presumption that class actions are available unless Congress
expressed its contrary intent. See Califano v. Yamasaki, 442
U.S. 682, 700 (1979) (“In the absence of a direct expression
by Congress of its intent to depart from the usual course of
trying ‘all suits of civil nature’ under the Rules established for
that purpose, class relief is appropriate in civil actions brought
16372 BATEMAN v. AMERICAN MULTI-CINEMA
in federal court . . . .”). Accordingly, Congress would not nec-
essarily have expected class actions to be available when it
created the statutory damages provisions in the Clayton and
Sherman Acts, and, unlike here, the Kline panel could not
assume as much.

[3] The court in Ratner also focused on whether the poten-
tially enormous liability would be consistent with congressio-
nal intent in creating the statutory damages provision. See 54
F.R.D. at 414 (“[T]he allowance of thousands of minimum
recoveries like plaintiff’s would carry to an absurd and stulti-
fying extreme the specific and essentially inconsistent remedy
Congress prescribed as the means of private enforcement.”
(emphasis added)). We think it clear that the Rule 23(b)(3)
superiority analysis must be consistent with the congressional
intent in enacting a particular statutory damages provision.
While Rule 23 affords district courts “wide discretion” in
deciding whether to certify a class, Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores,
Inc., 603 F.3d 571, 594 (9th Cir. 2010) (en banc), the district
court was obliged to exercise that discretion in light of the
objectives of FACTA. Cf. Hecht Co. v. Bowles, 321 U.S. 321,
331 (1944) (holding that, in considering whether to impose an
injunction under the Emergency Price Control Act, the district
court’s discretion “must be exercised in light of the objectives
of the Act”); Thorne v. City of El Segundo, 802 F.2d 1131,
1133 (9th Cir. 1986) (“Although the district court has wide
discretion in fashioning appropriate Title VII remedies, that
discretion must be exercised in light of the objectives of Title
VII . . . .”); see also Albemarle Paper Co. v. Moody, 422 U.S.
405, 416 (1975) (noting that a decision calling for the exercise
of discretion “hardly means that it is unfettered by meaningful
standards or shielded from thorough appellate review”); Wat-
kins v. Simmons & Clark, Inc., 618 F.2d 398, 402 (6th Cir.
1980) (noting that while “ ‘(s)tudents of [Rule 23] have been
led generally to recognize that its broad and open-ended terms
call for the exercise of some considerable discretion of a prag-
matic nature,’ that discretion must often be limited by consid-
 BATEMAN v. AMERICAN MULTI-CINEMA 16373
erations in addition to those set forth in the Rule” (quoting
Ratner, 54 F.R.D. at 416)).

[4] Therefore, in accord with these principles and Kline’s
reasoning, we look to FACTA itself for evidence of congres-
sional intent as to the appropriateness of class certification in
such cases. Specifically, we must examine FACTA to deter-
mine whether the denial of class certification is consistent
with congressional intent and FACTA’s remedial scheme
where a district court concludes that potential liability is dis-
proportionate to any actual harm.

1. Background on FACTA

[5] In an effort to combat identity theft, in 2003 Congress
enacted FACTA, which amended the FCRA, 15 U.S.C.
§§ 1681-1681x. See Pub. L. 108-159, 117 Stat. 1952 (2003).
FACTA provides, in relevant part, that “no person that
accepts credit cards or debit cards for the transaction of busi-
ness shall print more than the last 5 digits of the card number
or the expiration date upon any receipt provided to the card-
holder at the point of the sale or transaction.” 15 U.S.C.
§ 1681c(g)(1). Congress imposed civil liability for willful
noncompliance in the amount of “any actual damages sus-
tained by the consumer as a result of the failure or damages
of not less than $100 and not more than $1,000.” Id.
§ 1681n(a)(1)(A). In addition, FACTA allows prevailing par-
ties to recover attorneys’ fees and costs. Id. § 1682n(a)(3).

In response to misunderstandings about the truncation
requirements, Congress amended FACTA in 2008 with the
Clarification Act. Apparently, a significant number of mer-
chants had erroneously concluded that merely truncating the
account number down to the last five digits while leaving the
expiration date displayed would satisfy FACTA’s require-
ments. See Clarification Act § 2(a)(3),122 Stat. at 1565. After
the deadline for compliance passed, hundreds of lawsuits
were filed alleging that the companies’ failure to remove the
16374 BATEMAN v. AMERICAN MULTI-CINEMA
expiration date constituted willful violations of FACTA. Id.
§ 2(a)(4), 122 Stat. at 1565. In response, Congress amended
the “willful noncompliance” requirement of FACTA to insu-
late from liability any person who printed an expiration date
on a receipt between December 4, 2004, and June 3, 2008, so
long as they otherwise complied with FACTA’s requirements.
Id. § 3(a), 122 Stat. at 1566 (codified at 15 U.S.C.
§ 1681n(d)). As expressly stated in the bill, the Clarification
Act aimed “to ensure that consumers suffering from any
actual harm to their credit or identity are protected while
simultaneously limiting abusive lawsuits that do not protect
consumers but only result in increased cost to business and
potentially increased prices to consumers.” Id. § 2(b), 122
Stat. at 1566.

2. Statutory Analysis of FACTA

Unfortunately, neither FACTA nor the Clarification Act
addresses the availability of class actions. Where a statute is
silent on the availability of class relief, the Supreme Court has
instructed that we presume it to be available in all “civil
actions brought in federal court.” Califano, 442 U.S. at 700.
Accordingly, as neither FACTA nor the Clarification Act con-
tain a “direct expression” to the contrary, we must presume
that Congress intended class relief to be available. That, of
course, does not mean that a court necessarily must allow a
plaintiff to seek class relief. Rather, it means that a court can-
not deny class certification where plaintiffs have otherwise
met the requirements of Rule 23.

We therefore must decide whether a plaintiff satisfies Rule
23’s requirements where certification of a class would
threaten to impose liability disproportionate to the harm
caused. As we have explained, the touchstone of this determi-
nation is whether denying class certification on this ground is
consistent with congressional intent. We conclude that it is
not.
 BATEMAN v. AMERICAN MULTI-CINEMA 16375
[6] We begin, as always, with the plain language of the
statute. See United States v. Mohrbacher, 182 F.3d 1041,
1048 (9th Cir. 1999). The express terms of the statute provide
that upon proving a willful violation,6 a plaintiff may recover
“any actual damages sustained by the consumer as a result of
the failure or damages of not less than $100 and not more than
$1,000.” 15 U.S.C. § 1681n(a). Importantly, the statute does
not place a cap on these damages in the case of class actions,
does not indicate any threshold at which courts are free to
award less than the minimum statutory damages, and does not
limit the number of individuals that can be certified in a class
or the number of individual actions that can be brought
against a single merchant.

[7] Although the congressional record is silent about why
Congress provided for statutory damages in these amounts,7
we presume that the statutory damages serve a compensatory
function. See L.A. News Serv. v. Reuters Television Int’l., Ltd.,
149 F.3d 987, 996 (9th Cir. 1998) (noting that awards of stat-
utory damages can serve compensatory, punitive and/or deter-
rent purposes). That Congress provided a consumer the option
of recovering either actual or statutory damages, but not both,
supports the presumption that they serve the same purpose.
We further note that Congress provided for punitive damages
in addition to any actual or statutory damages, see 15 U.S.C
§ 1681n(a)(2), which further suggests that the statutory dam-
ages provision has a compensatory, not punitive, purpose. See
Harris v. Mexican Specialty Foods, Inc., 564 F.3d 1301, 1312
6
See supra footnote 2.
7
Nor does the legislative history of the FCRA shed any light on the pur-
pose of the statutory damages provision. No committee report accompa-
nied the final bill. In fact, there was no discussion on how Congress
arrived at the range of statutory damages or the appropriateness of that
remedy. A 1993 Senate Report mentions that the civil liability provisions
were added in order to assist consumers in “protect[ing] their privacy” and
to “ensure the accuracy of information in their files.” S. Rep. No. 103-209,
at 6 (1993). That statement of purpose, however, does not speak to Con-
gress’s specific intent in enacting the remedial scheme.
16376 BATEMAN v. AMERICAN MULTI-CINEMA
(11th Cir. 2009) (concluding that, because FACTA provides
separately for punitive damages, the statutory damages provi-
sion is not punitive).

The need for statutory damages to compensate victims is
plain. The actual harm that a willful violation of FACTA will
inflict on a consumer will often be small or difficult to prove.
As the Seventh Circuit similarly noted in Murray, under the
FCRA “individual losses, if any, are likely to be small—a
modest concern about privacy, a slight chance that informa-
tion would leak out and lead to identity theft. That actual loss
is small and hard to quantify is why statutes such as the Fair
Credit Reporting Act provide for modest damages without
proof of injury.” 434 F.3d at 953.

[8] In addition to that compensatory function, FACTA’s
actual and statutory damages provisions also effectuate the
Act’s deterrent purpose. See L.A. News Serv., 149 F.3d at 996
(noting that statutory damages help “sanction and vindicate
the statutory policy of discouraging infringement” (internal
quotation marks omitted)). In fashioning FACTA, Congress
aimed to “restrict the amount of information available to iden-
tity thieves.” 149 Cong. Rec. 26,891 (2003) (statement of Sen.
Shelby). Allowing consumers to recover statutory damages
furthers this purpose by deterring businesses from willfully
making consumer financial data available, even where no
actual harm results.

[9] The factors that a court considers when assessing the
superiority of a class action under Rule 23(b)(3) must be con-
sistent with these dual purposes of FACTA’s statutory dam-
ages remedy. Cf. Kline, 508 F.2d at 235 (concluding that class
certification would be inconsistent with Congress’s intent to
limit punitive damages to an amount only three times the
harm an individual defendant caused). Congress expressly
created a statutory damages scheme that intended to compen-
sate individuals for actual or potential damages resulting from
FACTA violations, without requiring individuals to prove
 BATEMAN v. AMERICAN MULTI-CINEMA 16377
actual harm. Thus, irrespective of whether Bateman and all
the potential class members can demonstrate actual harm
resulting from a willful violation, they are entitled to statutory
damages. There is no language in the statute, nor any indica-
tion in the legislative history, that Congress provided for judi-
cial discretion to depart from the $100 to $1000 range where
a district judge finds that damages are disproportionate to
harm. Further, we cannot surmise a principled basis for deter-
mining when damages are and are not “proportionate” to
actual harm. Indeed, one might plausibly argue that a $1000
award, or even a $100 award, for a single violation of
FACTA, without any allegation of harm, is not proportionate.
But the plain text of the statute makes absolutely clear that,
in Congress’s judgment, the $100 to $1000 range is propor-
tionate and appropriately compensates the consumer. That
proportionality does not change as more plaintiffs seek relief;
indeed, the size of AMC’s potential liability expands at
exactly the same rate as the class size. In the absence of any
showing that courts have the discretion to modify this reme-
dial scheme, we agree with the Seventh Circuit that “it is not
appropriate to use procedural devices to undermine laws of
which a judge disapproves.” Murray, 434 F.3d at 954.

[10] To the extent that statutory damages also serve a
deterrent purpose, a court undermines that purpose in denying
class certification on the basis of the proportionality of actual
harm and statutory liability. Congress, in its legislative judg-
ment, specified the range of damages that it considered suffi-
cient to have a deterrent effect. Despite Congress’s awareness
of the availability of class actions, it set no cap on the total
amount of aggregate damages, no limit on the size of a class,
and no limit on the number of individual suits that could be
brought against a merchant. Allowing denial of class certifica-
tion because of the sheer number of violations and amount of
potential statutory damages would allow the largest violators
of FACTA to escape the pressure of defending class actions
and, in all likelihood, to escape liability for most violations.
In other words, whatever risk of overdeterrence class certifi-
16378 BATEMAN v. AMERICAN MULTI-CINEMA
cation poses, refusing to certify a class on these grounds poses
the risk of significant underdeterrence.

To deny class certification based on the potential amount of
damages as compared to the extent of harm presumes that
Congress left it to the courts to evaluate the relative amount
of liability necessary to serve the statute’s compensatory and
deterrent purposes. Despite the absence of anything in the text
or legislative history of the statute explicitly delegating such
authority, AMC suggests it can be inferred from language in
the Clarification Act. Specifically, AMC points to the follow-
ing language in the Clarification Act’s “Findings” section:

(4) Almost immediately after the deadline for com-
pliance [with FACTA] passed, hundreds of lawsuits
were filed alleging that the failure to remove the
expiration date was a willful violation of the Fair
Credit Reporting Act even where the account num-
ber was properly truncated.

(5) None of these lawsuits contained an allegation of
harm to any consumer’s identity.

(6) Experts in the field agree that proper truncation
of the card number, by itself as required by the
amendment made by the Fair and Accurate Credit
Transactions Act, regardless of the inclusion of the
expiration date, prevents a potential fraudster from
perpetrating identity theft or credit card fraud.

(7) Despite repeatedly being denied class certifica-
tion, the continued appealing and filing of these law-
suits represents a significant burden on the hundreds
of companies that have been sued and could well
raise prices to consumers without corresponding
consumer protection benefit.

Clarification Act § 2(a)(3),122 Stat. at 1565-66 (emphasis
added). According to AMC, these findings evidence Con-
 BATEMAN v. AMERICAN MULTI-CINEMA 16379
gress’s approval of court rulings that denied class certification
on the ground that damages would be disproportionate to
actual harm. We disagree.

While some courts had denied class certification under
FACTA on superiority grounds at the time the Clarification
Act was enacted in June 2008, other courts had granted certi-
fication despite superiority arguments like AMC’s. See, e.g.,
Redmon v. Uncle Julio’s of Ill., Inc., 249 F.R.D. 290 (N.D. Ill.
Mar. 7, 2008); Reynoso v. S. Cnty. Concepts, No. SACV07-
373-JVS (RCx), 2007 WL 4592119 (C.D. Cal. Oct. 15, 2007).
Because we must presume that Congress is aware of “past
judicial interpretations and practices” when it legislates, In re
Egebjerg, 574 F.3d 1045, 1050 (9th Cir. 2009), we must pre-
sume Congress was aware of this split among district courts
as to whether these types of actions should be certified. In the
midst of this disagreement, Congress stepped in to amend
FACTA, and yet did nothing to limit the availability of class
relief or the amount of aggregate damages. Had Congress
been sufficiently concerned about disproportionate damages
as a result of class actions, it would have limited class avail-
ability or aggregate damages. Yet Congress did nothing of the
sort and instead merely imposed a retroactive immunity for a
sub-class of merchants who misunderstood FACTA’s require-
ments.

Where Congress in the past has been confronted with con-
cerns over disproportionate, potentially enormous statutory
damage awards, it has acted decisively to make its intent
clear. Responding to the problem identified in Ratner, Con-
gress amended TILA’s civil liability provision in 1974. Act of
Oct. 28, 1974, Pub. L. No. 93-495, § 408(a), 88 Stat. 1500,
1518. As evidenced by the Report of the Senate Banking
Committee, Congress was aware of the potentially enormous
liability facing defendants where TILA claims were pursued
as class actions. In relevant part, that report stated:

A problem has arisen in applying minimum liability
provisions in class action suits involving millions of
16380 BATEMAN v. AMERICAN MULTI-CINEMA
consumers. If each member of the class is entitled to
a minimum award of $100, a creditor’s liability can
be enormous.

...

The purpose of the civil penalties section under
Truth in Lending was to provide creditors with a
meaningful incentive to comply with the law without
relying upon an extensive new bureaucracy. How-
ever, the Committee feels this objective can be
achieved without subjecting creditors to enormous
penalties for violations which do not involve actual
damages and may be of a technical nature. Putting a
reasonable limit on a creditor’s maximum class
action liability would seem to be in the best interests
of both creditors and consumers.

S. Rep. No. 93-278, at 14 (1973). Accordingly, Congress
added a provision to TILA limiting aggregate statutory dam-
ages. Act of Oct. 28, 1974 § 408(a), 88 Stat. at 1518 (codified
as amended at 15 U.S.C. § 1640(a)(2)(B)) (capping class
action damage awards at $500,000 or one percent of the
defendant’s net worth). Congress has similarly capped class
action awards under other statutes. See 15 U.S.C.
§ 1692k(a)(2)(B) (setting the same limit under Fair Debt Col-
lection Practices Act). Yet here, faced with precisely the same
issue, Congress chose to remain silent and not to impose any
limits on aggregate relief.

We therefore are not convinced that this passing reference
to denial of class certification is sufficient to overcome the
plain text of the statute and congressional silence on the issue
of class relief, both of which strongly suggest that the propor-
tionality of the damages is an irrelevant consideration in
effectuating FACTA’s compensatory and deterrence pur-
poses.
 BATEMAN v. AMERICAN MULTI-CINEMA 16381
We also note an additional problem with AMC’s position.
AMC would have us leave it to the discretion of district courts
to decide whether a potential award would be so dispropor-
tionate to the actual harm that a class action would not be the
superior method of adjudication. Yet such unguided discretion
results in decidedly non-uniform decisions about class certifi-
cation. For example, in Price v. Lucky Strike Entm’t, 2007
WL 4812281, a district court refused to certify a class of
approximately 33,000 plaintiffs seeking damages under
FACTA, none of whom had alleged any actual harm. Mean-
while, a different district court in the same district certified a
class of approximately 32,000 individuals seeking statutory
damages under FACTA who also had alleged no harm, con-
cluding that “the magnitude of the potential damage award
does not affect the superiority of a class action for adjudica-
tion of this dispute.” See Medrano v. WCG Holdings, Inc.,
No. SACV 07-0506 JVS (RNBx), 2007 WL 4592113, at *6
(C.D. Cal. Oct. 15, 2007). We cannot ascribe to Congress an
intent to allow FACTA’s deterrent and compensatory impact
to vary according to the discretionary policy judgments of dis-
trict judges.

[11] We therefore hold that the district court abused its dis-
cretion in considering the proportionality of the potential lia-
bility to the actual harm alleged in its Rule 23(b)(3)
superiority analysis.

B. Enormous Liability

Having concluded that the proportionality of the potential
liability to actual harm was an improper consideration under
FACTA, we turn to the district court’s second justification:
that “class treatment would render the magnitude of the
defendant’s liability enormous.” We hold that such a consid-
eration is not an appropriate reason to deny class certification
under Rule 23(b)(3).

It is widely accepted that class certification “may force a
defendant to settle rather than incur the costs of defending a
16382 BATEMAN v. AMERICAN MULTI-CINEMA
class action and run the risk of potentially ruinous liability.”
Fed. R. Civ. P. 23, Advisory Committee Notes to 1998
Amendments. Indeed, “[e]ven in the mine-run case, a class
action can result in ‘potentially ruinous liability.’ ” Shady
Grove, 130 S. Ct. at 1465 n.3 (Ginsburg, J., dissenting) (quot-
ing Fed. R. Civ. P. 23, Advisory Committee Notes to 1998
Amendments); see also Prado-Steiman ex rel. Prado v. Bush,
221 F.3d 1266, 1274 (11th Cir. 2000) (“[E]ven ordinary class
certification decisions by their very nature may radically
reshape a lawsuit and significantly alter the risk-benefit calcu-
lation of the parties . . . .”); Turoff v. Union Oil Co. of Cal.,
61 F.R.D. 51, 54 (N.D. Ohio 1973) (“In many fields, ranging
from mortgage foreclosures to securities laws, the courts
enforce recoveries which result in bankruptcy without indulg-
ing in the legislative function of ruling that the law permitting
such a recovery could not have been intended to harm anyone
to such a degree.”).

The decision to certify a class thus necessarily “places pres-
sure on the defendant to settle even unmeritorious claims.”
Shady Grove, 130 S. Ct. at 1465 n.3 (Ginsburg, J., dissenting).
See also Coopers & Lybrand v. Livesay, 437 U.S. 463, 476
(1978) (“Certification of a large class may so increase the
defendant’s potential damages liability and litigation costs
that he may find it economically prudent to settle and to aban-
don a meritorious defense.”). We have held, however, that
“[t]he fairness of the pressure i.e., the sociological merits of
the small claims class action[,] is not a question for us to
decide.” Blackie v. Barrack, 524 F.2d 891, 899 (9th Cir. 1975).8
Accord Chamberlan v. Ford Motor Co., 402 F.3d 952, 960
(9th Cir. 2005) (rejecting the notion that certification of a
large class creates pressure to settle that is per se unreason-
8
Indeed, as the Supreme Court has noted, a defendant’s “aggregate lia-
bility . . . does not depend on whether the suit proceeds as a class action,”
because “[e]ach of the . . . members of the putative class could . . . bring
a freestanding suit asserting his individual claim.” Shady Grove, 130 S. Ct.
at 1443 (plurality op.).
 BATEMAN v. AMERICAN MULTI-CINEMA 16383
able); Klay, 382 F.3d at 1275 (“Mere pressure to settle is not
a sufficient reason for a court to avoid certifying an otherwise
meritorious class action suit.”); In re Visa Check/Master
Money Antitrust Litig., 280 F.3d 124, 145 (2d Cir. 2001),
superseded by statute on other grounds as stated in Attenbo-
rough v. Constr. & Gen. Bldg. Laborers’ Local 79, 238
F.R.D. 82, 100 (S.D.N.Y. 2006) (holding that the sheer size
of a class—and the concomitant size of liability—“alone can-
not defeat an otherwise proper certification”). If the size of a
defendant’s potential liability alone was a sufficient reason to
deny class certification, however, the very purpose of Rule
23(b)(3)—“to allow integration of numerous small individual
claims into a single powerful unit”—would be substantially
undermined. Blackie, 524 F.2d at 899.

[12] Rather, in accord with our reasoning under Kline,
whether the potential for enormous liability can justify a
denial of class certification depends on congressional intent.
For substantially the same reasons discussed in Part III.A, we
conclude that allowing consideration of the potential enormity
of any damages award would undermine the compensatory
and deterrent purposes of FACTA. As the Seventh Circuit
noted, the reason that damages can become enormous under
FACTA “does not lie in an ‘abuse’ of Rule 23; it lies in the
legislative decision to authorize awards as high as $1,000 per
person,” combined with multiple violations of the statute.
Murray, 434 F.3d at 953. Nothing in the plain text of the stat-
ute or in its legislative history suggests that Congress intended
to place a cap on potentially enormous statutory awards or to
otherwise limit the ability of individuals to seek compensa-
tion. Had Congress so intended, the Clarification Act repre-
sented a prime opportunity for Congress to clarify its intent
given that this issue was already a matter of heavy debate in
the courts at the time of the Amendment. See, e.g., Redmon,
249 F.R.D. at 296-97; Reynoso, 2007 WL 4592119, at *5-6.
Indeed, as noted above, when Congress has been concerned
about the enormity of potential liability in cases like this one,
it has placed caps on aggregate liability. See, e.g., 15 U.S.C.
16384 BATEMAN v. AMERICAN MULTI-CINEMA
§ 1640(a)(2)(b) (placing a cap on aggregate recovery under
TILA); 15 U.S.C. § 1692k(a)(2)(B)(ii) (placing a cap on
aggregate recovery under the Fair Debt Collection Practices
Act).

[13] In the absence of such affirmative steps to limit liabil-
ity, we must assume that Congress intended FACTA’s reme-
dial scheme to operate as it was written. To limit class
availability merely on the basis of “enormous” potential lia-
bility that Congress explicitly provided for would subvert
congressional intent.

We note, however, that this is not a case where the defen-
dant has argued or demonstrated that the potential liability
would result in bankruptcy. In the context of Rule 23(f),
which allows for interlocutory appeal of class certification
decisions in some circumstances, we have required an appel-
lant to demonstrate that the potential liability would be “ruin-
ous” before granting interlocutory appeal. See Chamberlan,
402 F.3d at 960-61 (noting that interlocutory appeal is not
warranted merely because the potential liability would be
“ ‘unpleasant to a behemoth’ company” (quoting Waste
Mgmt. Holdings, Inc. v. Mowbray, 208 F.3d 288, 294 (1st Cir.
2000)); Fed. R. Civ. P. 23, Advisory Committee Notes to
1998 Amendments, Subdivision (f). Here, AMC did not argue
before the district court that the potential $290 million liabil-
ity would put it out of business, nor did it submit any declara-
tions, documents, or other evidence demonstrating that such
liability would be “ruinous.” Bateman, however, submitted
evidence that AMC’s 2006 revenues were approximately
$1.68 billion, with approximately $1.66 billion in costs and
expenses. Bateman also submitted evidence showing that
AMC’s assets were worth approximately $4 billion as of
2007. We reserve judgment as to whether a showing of “ruin-
ous liability” would warrant denial of class certification in a
FACTA or similar action.

[14] We also reserve judgment as to whether, if Bateman
prevails at trial, the district court may be entitled to reduce the
 BATEMAN v. AMERICAN MULTI-CINEMA 16385
award if it is unconstitutionally excessive. See Murray, 434
F.3d at 954 (“An award that would be unconstitutionally
excessive may be reduced, see State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co.
v. Campbell, 538 U.S. 408 (2003), but constitutional limits are
best applied after a class has been certified.”). We do, how-
ever, conclude that is it not appropriate to evaluate the exces-
siveness of the award at this stage of the litigation. Because
we do not know what amount of damages Bateman will seek
nor how many individuals will ultimately claim the benefit of
any damages awarded should plaintiffs prevail, any evaluation
of AMC’s potential liability at this time is unduly speculative.

C. Good Faith Compliance

[15] In conducting its Rule 23(b)(3) analysis, the district
court also concluded that a class action would not be a supe-
rior method of adjudication because AMC “demonstrated
good faith by complying with FACTA within a few weeks of
the filing of Plaintiff’s Complaint. This limits the deterrent
effect of a class action.” We hold that the district court’s con-
sideration of AMC’s post-complaint good faith compliance
was inconsistent with congressional intent in enacting
FACTA. Congress did not include any safe harbor or other-
wise limit damages for good faith compliance with the statute
after an alleged violation. The mere fact that AMC changed
the content of its receipts to comply with FACTA after the
lawsuit was filed does not suggest that certification of the
class would have limited deterrent effect. To the contrary, we
are quite sure that certification of a class here would preserve,
if not amplify, the deterrent effect of FACTA. Because Bate-
man’s complaint clearly alleged that he was seeking class-
wide damages, we can reasonably surmise that AMC’s speedy
compliance with FACTA was promoted, at least in part, by
the specter of a substantial damages award. Thus, to deny
class certification on this ground would communicate to other
potential violators that, as long as they comply with FACTA
after a complaint is filed, they may avoid liability for wide-
spread violations. In other words, to deny class certification
16386 BATEMAN v. AMERICAN MULTI-CINEMA
on this ground undermines the deterrent effect of FACTA
itself.

IV

As Judge Easterbrook of the Seventh Circuit mused,
“[m]aybe suits such as this will lead Congress to amend the
[statute]; maybe not. While a statute remains on the books,
however, it must be enforced rather than subverted.” Murray,
434 F.3d at 954. Thus, in light of the foregoing discussion, the
district court’s order denying class certification is vacated,
and the case is remanded for proceedings consistent with this
opinion. Nothing in this opinion should be construed to limit
the district court’s ability to consider other Rule 23(a) and
23(b) factors, including the manageability of a nationwide
class, in deciding whether class certification is appropriate.

REVERSED AND REMANDED.