Safeco Insurance Co. of America et al. v. Burr et al.

Safeco Insurance Company of America (Safeco) (plaintiff) charged Charles Burr (defendant) a higher-than-best-available initial premium based on his consumer credit report, without notifying him this was an adverse action under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (the Act). Burr joined a class action alleging Safeco willfully violated the Act's notice requirement, seeking statutory and punitive damages for willful violations. The district court granted Safeco summary judgment, reasoning an initial rate-setting wasn't an 'adverse action' since that required a change from a prior decision; the court of appeals reversed, holding the notice duty covers initial rate-setting and that 'willful' includes reckless disregard, which it found on these facts, and the Supreme Court granted certiorari.