Los Angeles, C: Forever 21 Retail Inc. is facing a putative class action alleging the discount retailer records customer credit card numbers and personal identification information obtained by its cashiers, in violation of California law prohibiting retailers from recording such information.
Filed in California federal court, the lawsuit alleges Forever 21 has a companywide policy of requiring its cashiers to request and record credit card numbers and personal information from customers who pay with credit cards at its stores, in violation of the Song-Beverly Act .
"Defendant uses personal identification information obtained from the cardholder to acquire additional personal information, by pairing such personal identification information with the cardholder' name obtained from the credit card used by such cardholders. Such conduct is performed intentionally and without the knowledge or consent of the cardholder, and is of potentially great benefit to defendant,"the complaint said.
According to the lawsuit, Forever 21 has a policy of recording and storing customers' personal information violates a California Civil Code provision that explicitly prohibits merchants from requesting or recording personal information from customers paying with credit cards, or requiring cardholders to provide their personal information.
The potential class action is seeking certification of a class of all California consumers from whom Forever 21 has requested their personal identification information when completing a credit card transaction.
Plaintiffs are represented by Abbas Kazerounian and Matthew M. Loker of Kazerouni Law Group, Sina Rezvanpour of RKR Legal and Joshua B. Swigart of Hyde & Swigart.
The suit is Estanboulian v. Forever 21 Retail, Inc., case number 2:14-cv-06971, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
