Thompson v. Army and Air Force Exchange Service

Plaintiff filed a putative class action against the Army and Air Force Exchange Service in Illinois state court, alleging that the exchange printed her credit card’s expiration date on purchase receipts in violation of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act and the exchange removed the case to federal court. In federal court, the plaintiff moved to remand and the defendant moved to dismiss with both parties focused on plaintiff’s lack of Article III standing. The district court dismissed the lawsuit, reasoning that the defendant did not need to assert a colorable defense to remove the action and that it had an absolute right to litigate in federal court. The Seventh Circuit agreed that defendant was not required to present a federal defense to remove the case, but found that the district court erred in dismissing the case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and remanded with instructions for the case to be remanded to state court. (SCUDDER and JACKSON-AKIWUMI, concurring)