Woman Wins Suit Against Equifax

A federal jury has awarded a Nokesville, VA, woman $351,000 in actual damages in a suit she filed against Equifax.

The story, reported on in the Potomac News, is a tangled mess that starts back in June of 2003 when Suzanne Sloan gave birth to a son at Prince William Hospital. Sloan’s social security number was lifted by a temporary hospital employee and used to open several credit card accounts.

After discovering the theft, Sloan sued, well, everyone:

• NRI Staffing Inc., the temp agency that placed the identity thief, for $3.35M (the suit was mutually dropped)

• Prince William Hospital for $12.5M (the hospital settled this past March for an undisclosed amount)

• Experian, Transunion, and Equifax for $31M (Experian and Transunion settled for undisclosed amounts)

• CitiFinancial for $13 million (settled for an undisclosed amount)

Sloan alleged that the three credit reporting agencies continued to show the debts on her credit reports, even after sending documentation regarding the identity theft. She also stated that the companies lack a mechanism to repair the damage done by identity theft to a person's credit report.

While Experian and Transunion both settled with Sloan, Equifax decided to go to bat on this one — and lost.