In Rivera v. Allstate Insurance Co., No. 17-1649 (7th Cir. 2019) the Seventh Circuit determined that the fired plaintiff portfolio managers did not allege a concrete injury sufficient to establish standing to assert violation of section 1681a(y)(2) of Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Their claim arose out of contention that the defendant-employer failed to provide them with copy of investigation report generated by defendant’s attorney that was used to support their terminations. Defendant was required to only give oral summary of said report after their terminations, and as such, any alleged violation constituted only procedural violation that was unaccompanied by any concrete harm or risk of harm to plaintiffs that was protected by FCRA. Moreover, because plaintiffs lacked standing to pursue FCRA claim, the District Court could not adjudicate plaintiffs’ defamation claims under supplemental jurisdiction provision of 28 USC section 1367(a), since supplemental jurisdiction may only be invoked where the District Court has original subject matter jurisdiction over another claim in case. Note: The original opinion filed October 31, 2018 addressed merits of defamation claims and found that record had failed to support jury’s verdict in favor of plaintiffs on said defamation claims.
