Roundtree v. Chase Bank USA, N.A.

In 2012, Brian Roundtree (plaintiff) attended a conference in Barcelona, Spain. Roundtree and two colleagues went to a strip club, and Roundtree charged approximately 300 euros worth of drinks to his HSBC credit card. Roundtree alleged that he felt dizzy and passed out after sipping his drink. Roundtree awoke at the club in the morning and was given a receipt showing that the club had charged his Chase credit card three times, with charges totaling roughly $42,000. Roundtree said that he never authorized the charges or even took his Chase card out of his pocket, and he alleged that someone forged his signature on the credit-card transaction slips. Roundtree spoke to the Barcelona police and a security guard at the conference, but he never filed a formal police report. Roundtree then called Chase Bank USA, N.A., (defendant) to report the charges. Roundtree initially told Chase that a restaurant had overcharged his credit card. However, Roundtree later told Chase that he had been drugged and that someone had taken his Chase card out of his pocket and made unauthorized charges. Chase contacted the club and the Barcelona police. The police said that Roundtree had not filed a police report, and the club did not give Chase any information. Chase also compared the signatures from the credit-card transaction slips to Roundtree’s signature on file and determined that the signatures matched. Chase concluded that the charges were authorized. Roundtree sued Chase, alleging among other things that Chase had violated the federal Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA). Both parties moved for summary judgment.