EXPERIAN INFORMATION SOLUTIONS v.SUPERIOR COURT

Filed 3/30/06

CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

Original proceedings; petition for a writ of mandate/prohibition to challenge an order of the Superior Court of Orange County, Jonathan H. Cannon, Judge. Petition granted in part and denied in part with directions.

Jones Day, Thomas R. Malcolm, Daniel J. McLoon, Kevin Dorse and Lisa C. McCurdy for Petitioner.

No appearance for Respondent.

Lakeshore Law Center and Jeffrey N. Wilens for Real Party in Interest.

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INTRODUCTION

The trial court denied real party in interest, plaintiff Mellonie Sorensen's motion for class certification. Thereafter, on a motion by Sorensen pursuant to an earlier protective order by stipulation, the trial court approved a letter to former potential class members identified in discovery covered by that protective order. The letter would inform recipients they might have claims subject to running statutes of limitation and request each recipient's consent to be contacted by Sorensen's counsel to determine whether he or she had evidence relevant to the issue of Sorensen's damages. Experian Information Solutions, Inc. (Experian), filed a petition for writ of mandate, challenging the trial court's approval of the letter.

We hold: (1) after class certification has been denied, a trial court cannot order notification of former potential class members of their possible legal claims; (2) the trial court did not abuse its discretion by concluding portions of the letter were reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence on the issue of plaintiff's statutory damages; and (3) to be approved, the letter must be completely redrafted to include only statements relevant to plaintiff's request for consent to contact the recipients for such a discovery purpose and to also minimize intrusions upon the recipients' privacy rights, as detailed post in this opinion. Accordingly, we grant the petition in part and deny it in part with directions.

BACKGROUND

Sorensen filed her second amended complaint against defendants Household Finance Corporation (HFC), ARS Recovery Services, Inc., and Doe defendants Access Recovery Services, Collins Financial Services, Inc. (Collins), and Experian (served as Does Nos. 1 through 3, respectively). The second amended complaint alleged claims for negligence against HFC and Collins, violation of the Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act (CCRAA)[1] against Experian, and unfair competition against all defendants. The claims were based on allegations that collection accounts were reported to Experian regarding Sorensen and approximately 565 other debtors, and that the original delinquency dates for each of the reported collection accounts had been changed to a later date before being reported to Experian, causing the collection accounts to be displayed on Sorensen's and others' credit reports for a longer period of time than allowed by the CCRAA. Sorensen alleged Experian violated the CCRAA by providing inaccurate reports, causing actual damage to Sorensen and others similarly situated.

In January 2005, the trial court signed and filed a stipulated protective order (the Collins stipulated protective order) which stated, â€