Karina Basso  |  July 31, 2014

Category: Consumer News

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credit card machineMacy’s Corp. and Foot Locker Retail Inc. were named last week in separate zip code class action lawsuits filed against them in California federal court.

Both businesses face allegations of requiring customers to provide their zip codes before processing a credit card payment. The lawsuits allege that form of data mining violates California privacy laws.

The Macy’s zip code class action lawsuit was filed by plaintiff Justin Maghen, who on July 18 visited a Macy’s store in Los Angeles to buy a watch. Once Maghen selected a product he wished to purchase, he proceeded to a cashier to begin the check-out process.

When Maghen attempted to pay for the purchase with a credit card, the Macy’s employee followed the corporation’s policy and requested personal information including the plaintiff’s identification and phone number. The class action lawsuit claims that the Macy’s employee allegedly walked out of Maghen’s sight with his personal information.

According to Maghen’s allegations, “Upon return, Defendant’s employee asked for Plaintiff’s telephone number, without informing Plaintiff of the consequences if Plaintiff did not provide Defendant’s employee with Plaintiff’s requested personal identification information.” As a result, Maghen alleges that he provided the requested information under the belief that it was needed to complete the transaction.

Similarly, plaintiff Joubin Mortezapour filed a zip code class action lawsuit against Foot Locker with similar privacy violation allegations. On July 12, Mortezapour visited a Foot Locker store located in Canoga Park, Calif., to buy a pair of shoes.

Like Maghen, Mortezapour alleges that the Foot Locker employee asked him to present identification a telephone number before the payment could be processed. Mortezapour further alleges that he provided the information under the belief that his personal information was needed to complete the transaction.

Both plaintiffs allege that Macy’s and Foot Locker violated California privacy laws. According to the class action lawsuit, California law states that during a civil transaction, a merchant may neither:

“(1) request personal identification information from a customer paying for goods with a credit card, and then record that personal identification information upon the credit card transaction form or elsewhere; nor (2) require the cardholder, as a condition to accepting the credit card as payment, to provide the customer’s personal identification information, which the retailer then causes to be written, or otherwise records it upon the credit card transaction form or elsewhere.”

Maghen and Mortezapour seek to represent themselves and a Class of consumers, which includes all persons in California who were asked to give personal information that was recorded during a Macy’s and/or Foot Locker credit card transaction within one year of the filing of these class action lawsuits. The exact number of Class Members is currently unknown.

Justin Maghen and Joubin Mortezapour are represented by Abbas Kazerounian and Matthew M. Loker of Kazerouni Law Group APC; and Sina Rezvanpour, Sara Rezvanpour, and Shuan Lue of RKR Legal, and Joshua B. Swigart of Hyde and Swigart.

The Macy’s Zip Code Class Action Lawsuit is Maghen v. Macy’s Corporate Services Inc., Case No. 2:14-cv-05874, in the U.S. District Court Central District of California.

The Foot Locker Zip Code Class Action Lawsuit is Mortezapour v. Foot Locker Retail Inc., Case No. 2:14-cv-05868, in the U.S. District Court Central District of California.

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8 thoughts onMacy’s and Foot Locker hit with Zip Code Class Action Lawsuits

  1. Marlon Romero says:

    Add me

  2. Angelica Romero says:

    Add me

  3. Eva E Cameron says:

    I went to Woodfield Macy near the shoe department and was told I had to call my bank for a number and the lady named Olesea did not speak proper English and I told her that doesn’t make sense! Schaumburg IL at Woodfield Mall

  4. Eva E Cameron says:

    Friends and family
    Is a violation as well since money is trapped on the reward card as the prices are too high to use it and you can not purchase anything else.

  5. Natalie says:

    Good Afternoon, I am interested in finding out who I can possibly contact regarding this class action lawsuit. I actually filed a small claims lawsuit against Macy’s for harassment, defamation of character, discrimination, emotional distress, and many other reasons on top of the fact that Macy’s took my ID without my permission and ran my credit because my credit card did not swipe (they had to manually enter it, but I have also been a macys customer for 14 years and it was never an issue). I dealt with the harassment of walking into a macy’s and having security or “LP” watch me while I was there because they claimed all sorts of issues. I went to small claims court after Macy’s had postponed my trial in Dec. 2013, until Feb 2014 and when I went to court, the macys rep had no clue why she was there and wanted me to inform her. She was under oath and lied by saying “I showed an ID from a different state with my name” which was and is impossible because it’s against the law to have 2 ID’s. I had a mild stroke because of this and have been trying to pursue this case on my own, as there were many factors that play into it. I have EVERYTHING DOCUMENTED since day one, and I also had proof of an employee who was fired after all this happened stating that “I was targeted and harassed because of my appearance (age) and simply profiled because I didn’t seem to be the type to buy expensive items. In small claims court the Judge dismissed the case and I was advised to take it to the supreme court as Macy’s claims that they have Macy’s Inc and Macy’s Corp because of all of the lawsuits against them. If someone could please contact me regarding this issue, I have document after document and everything in detail. Please e-mail me as this particular case caught my eye because I didn’t have the support of anyone, and this just fueled my fire because I knew Macy’s was in the wrong after the phone call I got from Brittany in Management in Macy’s Ohio (after the small claims was filed) offering me $100 gift card for my troubles. I told her I would see her in court and no thank you on the gift card. This is a HUGE case and I have employees as witnesses. They continue to send me personal e-mails (unprofessional) and coupons and offers and everything in the mail….yet they have yet to replace my Macy’s credit card that hasn’t swiped in over 10 years. But it’s managed to work until they harassed me. Please feel free to e-mail me at the email provided. Thank you kindly.

  6. radishes says:

    Burger King in Indiana ask zip code and name for purchase in place of giving a number, i really dont like the idea what if the guy on grill don’t like the customer, uh ya! that looks like a hair or??? hate to think about it!

  7. mary tansill says:

    Can you tell me what states the zip code law is in effect?

  8. ramos says:

    1 question,
    how about if you pay with a debit card over the phone and it approves and then when the delivery driver drops off the merchandise and copies the front of the debit card?

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