Stevens v. Zappos.com, Inc., No. 16-16860 (9th Cir. 2018)
Annotate this CaseThe Ninth Circuit reversed the district court's dismissal of plaintiff's claims based on lack of Article III standing. Plaintiffs filed suit against online retailer Zappos.com, alleging that they were harmed by hacking of their accounts. The panel held that plaintiffs sufficiently alleged standing based on the risk of identity theft under Krottner v. Starbucks Corp., 628 F.3d 1139 (9th Cir. 2010). Plaintiffs also alleged an injury in fact under Krottner, based on a substantial risk that the Zappos hackers will commit identity fraud or identity theft. The panel explained that it assessed standing at the time the complaints were filed, not as of the present. Finally, the panel held that plaintiffs sufficiently alleged that the risk of future harm was fairly traceable to the conduct being challenged and that their identity theft injury was redressable. The panel addressed an issue raised by sealed briefing in a concurrently filed memorandum disposition.
Court Description: Article III Standing The panel reversed the district court’s dismissal, for lack of Article III standing, of plaintiffs’ claims alleging that they were harmed by hacking of their accounts at the online retailer Zappos.com. The panel held that under Krottner v. Starbucks Corp., 628 F.3d 1139 (9th Cir. 2010), plaintiffs sufficiently alleged standing based on the risk of identity theft. The panel rejected Zappos’s argument that Krottner was no longer good law after Clapper v. Amnesty International USA, 568 U.S. 398 (2013). And the panel held that plaintiffs sufficiently alleged an injury in fact under Krottner, based on a substantial risk that the Zappos hackers will commit identity fraud or identity theft. The panel assessed plaintiffs’ standing as of the time the complaints were filed, not as of the present. The panel further held that plaintiffs sufficiently alleged that the risk of future harm they faced was “fairly traceable” to the conduct being challenged; and the risk from
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