$4 Million Settlement Approved in HRDC’s Oregon Debit-Release Card Suit
On December 10, 2024, the federal court for the District of Oregon issued final approval of a $4 million settlement resolving claims by a former Portland jail detainee that money confiscated from her upon booking was eaten up by fees associated with the debit card returned to her at release.
As PLN reported, the district court earlier certified a national class and made Plaintiff Danica Love Brown its representative in the suit against issuer Stored Value Cards, Inc. The cards were branded with the firm’s NUMI trademark and issued by Central National Bank and Trust Co. (CNB) of Enid, Oklahoma—much like those issued by a Kansas bank which is now the Defendant in a separate class-action suit, as reported elsewhere in this issue. [See: PLN, Oct. 2023, p.12; and Apr. 2025, p.30.]
With support from PLN’s nonprofit publisher, the Human Rights Defense Center, Brown brought her suit in 2015, a year after she was arrested during a protest and held at the Multnomah County Jail. Her cash was confiscated there—$30.97—and returned to her upon release on a preloaded NUMI debit card. To access her money, she had to use the card, entailing fees that depleted most of her balance.
Defendants initially succeeded in getting the case dismissed under the Electronic Funds Transfer Act, 12 U.S.C. ch. 3 § 226 et seq., 15 U.S.C. ch. 41 § 1601 et seq., 15 U.S.C. ch. 41 § 1693 et seq. But the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed that decision. On remand, Defendants attempted to enforce an arbitration clause in the cardholder agreement delivered with the card. But the district court ruled that was not an agreement at all, since Brown had no choice but to accept it if she wanted her money, a decision that the Ninth Circuit affirmed. Back at the district court again, the case was certified as a class action, and the parties proceeded to reach their settlement agreement.
Under its terms, former detainees released from over 1,000 lockups nationwide since 2014 with a NUMI-branded CNB card were entitled to file a claim, each receiving an estimated minimum of $15. The cutoff for filing claims was extended to December 31, 2024, with checks going out in February 2025. The settlement was funded with $2.8 million from CNB, which added another $200,000 for claims administration, and another $1 million from Stored Value.
Class counsel was reimbursed from the fund for costs: $299,181.20 for the Seattle firm of Sirianni Youtz Spoonemore Hamburger PLLC, plus another $5,133.31 for Public Justice P.C. in Washington, D.C. Class counsel also requested and received fees from the settlement fund of $1,333,333, which the district court noted was above the Ninth Circuit’s 25% benchmark but below the $1,402,285.72 lodestar of normal billing rates. Lead Plaintiff Brown also received a $15,000 award for her persistence over the decade since her cash was confiscated at the jail. See: Brown v. Stored Value Cards, Inc., USDC (D. Oregon), Case No. 3:15-cv-1370.
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Related legal cases
Brown v. Stored Value Cards, Inc.
| Year | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Cite | USDC (D. Oregon), Case No. 3:15-cv-1370 |
| Level | District Court |
| Conclusion | Settlement |
| Damages | 4000000 |
Brown v. Stored Value Cards, Inc.
| Year | 2021 |
|---|---|
| Cite | USCA (9th Cir.), Case No. 21-36031 |
| Level | Court of Appeals |
| Conclusion | Bench Verdict |
Danica Brown v. Stored Value Cards, Inc.
| Year | 2020 |
|---|---|
| Cite | 18-35735 (9th Cir. 2020) |