Tierney v. Advocate Health and Hospitals Corp.

Dist. Ct. did not err in dismissing for failure to state cause of action by plaintiffs (medical patients of defendant) alleging violations of Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) arising out of theft of defendant’s computers containing unencrypted private data relating to defendant’s medical patients that subsequently caused plaintiffs to incur financial losses arising out of use of such stolen data. Defendant failed to qualify as “consumer reporting agency” necessary to become liable under FCRA, where plaintiff failed to allege that: (1) defendant received fee in exchange for compiling and transmitting patient information; or (2) defendant assembled patient information for purpose of furnishing consumer reports to third parties. Ct. further observed that while defendant furnished patient information to third parties to determine eligibility for medical insurance coverage, defendant’s experience with its own patients that generated said information fell within exclusion under section 1681a(d)(A)(i) of FCRA.