Johnson v. MBNA America Bank, N.A.

Linda Johnson (plaintiff) was married to Edward Slater. Slater applied for a credit card with MBNA America Bank, N.A. (MBNA) (defendant). Slater later filed for bankruptcy, and MBNA sought the $17,000 balance on the credit card from Johnson. But Johnson claimed that she was never a co-applicant for the card with Slater. Instead, Johnson claimed that she was merely an authorized user. MBNA claimed that Johnson was indeed a co-applicant. Johnson contacted credit reporting agencies and disputed her status as a co-applicant on the account. Those agencies sent MBNA a notice explaining Johnson’s challenge. MBNA officials then reviewed account information on their database. MBNA officials later testified that this review consisted of confirming Johnson’s name and address and noting that the computer system said that Johnson was the sole individual responsible for the account. The officials explained that in performing dispute investigations, the process rarely dove any deeper. Based on that review, MBNA responded that the disputed information was correct, and the agencies continued to report the account as Johnson’s. Johnson sued MBNA for violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by failing to conduct a proper investigation. The case went to a jury trial, and the jury found for Johnson and awarded her actual damages. MBNA moved for judgment as a matter of law, claiming that the FCRA required only a cursory review to meet its investigation requirement or that, in the alternative, if a reasonable investigation was required, MBNA’s review met that threshold. The court denied the motion, and MBNA appealed.