## Facts

- Stacie Harrold sued Levi Strauss & Co. and Levi’s Only Stores, Inc. under the Song–Beverly Credit Card Act of 1971, alleging unlawful collection of personal identification information during credit card purchases.
- Harrold alleged that on July 14, 2012, she used a credit card to buy items at a Levi’s retail store in Napa, California.
- During checkout, a store employee requested Harrold’s email address, and the email address was entered into the electronic point-of-sale register.
- Levi’s maintained an email marketing program and a written policy instructing sales staff to request customers’ email addresses for marketing purposes only after the credit card transaction was completed.
- Harrold sought to represent a class of customers whose email addresses were allegedly requested and recorded in violation of Civil Code § 1747.08.

## Issues

1. Whether Civil Code § 1747.08 prohibits a retailer from requesting and recording a customer’s email address after the credit card transaction has been completed.
2. Whether the trial court properly denied class certification based on its interpretation that post-transaction collection of personal identification information is outside § 1747.08.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeal affirmed the order denying class certification.
- The court interpreted Civil Code § 1747.08 as not prohibiting collection of personal identification information once the credit card transaction has been concluded.
- Because Levi’s policy directed that email requests occur after the sale was completed, the alleged practice did not constitute a common statutory violation suitable for class treatment.
- The court also noted that, to the extent timing varied in practice, individualized inquiries would be required regarding when and how the request was made.

## Legal Principles

- Civil Code § 1747.08 targets requests for personal identification information made as a condition of accepting a credit card payment and associated recording of that information in connection with the transaction.
- A request for personal identification information made after the credit card transaction is completed is not a request made “as a condition to accepting the credit card” and is outside the statute’s prohibition.
- When a plaintiff’s class theory depends on conduct that is not unlawful under the governing statute, class certification may be denied for lack of a viable, common claim.
- Variations in how and when information requests are made can defeat predominance where determining liability would require transaction-by-transaction analysis.

## Conclusion

The court affirmed denial of class certification because Civil Code § 1747.08 does not bar a retailer from requesting and recording a customer’s email address after a credit card purchase is completed, and Harrold’s proposed class theory therefore lacked a common statutory violation.


Harrold v. Levi Strauss & Co., 236 Cal. App. 4th 1259 (Ct. App. 2015)