At The National Law Journal (via How Appealing):
In a case stemming from an employer’s theft of e-mails from the personal account of an employee who had sued him for sexual harassment, a panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently became the first circuit to hold that plaintiffs must prove actual damages in order to be eligible for an award of statutory damages under the federal Stored Communications Act.
But the unanimous panel, led by Chief Judge Karen Williams, also ruled that a showing of actual damages is not required for awards of punitive damages or attorney fees. Van Alstyne v. Electronic Scriptorium Ltd., No. 07-1892.
The panel decision reversed a jury award of $150,000 against Bonnie Van Alstyne’s employer, Edward Leonard, and $25,000 against Electronic Scriptorium Ltd., of which Leonard was president. The decision leaves intact a $75,000 punitive damages award against Leonard; a $25,000 punitive damages award against ESL; and an award of $135,723.56 in attorney fees and costs to Van Alstyne.
I don’t think most non-lawyers recognize they can recover for conduct like this:
During discovery in ESL’s suit, Van Alstyne became suspicious that several e-mails presented by Leonard were from her personal account. In a deposition, he admitted he had accessed Van Alstyne’s AOL account after she left the company …
Let’s look a little closer at the law, as explained in the opinion (PDF):
Section 2701 of the SCA creates a criminal offense for whoever "intentionally accesses without authorization a facility through which an electronic communication service is provided" or "intentionally exceeds an authorization to access that facility," and by doing so "obtains, alters, or prevents authorized access to a wire or electronic communication while it is in electronic storage in such system." 18 U.S.C.A.
§ 2701(a)(1-2).Section 2707 provides a private cause of action for "any . . . other person aggrieved" by a violation of § 2701. 18 U.S.C.A. § 2707(a). Under § 2707, a district court may award equitable or declaratory relief, a reasonable attorney’s fee and other costs, and "damages under subsection (c)." 18 U.S.C.A. § 2707(b). Subsection (c) provides:
The court may assess as damages in a civil action under this section the sum of the actual damages suffered by the plaintiff and any profits made by the violator as a result of the violation, but in no case shall a person entitled to recover receive less than the sum of $1,000. If the violation is willful or intentional, the court may assess punitive damages. In the case of a successful action to enforce liability under this section, the court may assess the costs of the action, together with reasonable attorney fees determined by the court.
Id. § 2707(c).
In the face of the plain meaning of the statute, why was the "actual damages" limitation even contested on appeal?
Likely because the defendant argued that, without actual damages, the plaintiff couldn’t recover at all. Not punitive damages, not attorney’s fees, not anything. The Court disposed of that summarily:
Although "[t]here is no established federal common law rule that precludes the award of punitive damages in the absence of an award of compensatory damages," People Helpers Found., Inc. v. City of Richmond, 12 F.3d 1321, 1326 (4th Cir. 1993), we have held, in accordance with "the majority rule" that, absent statutory language to the contrary, punitive damages are not recoverable absent proof of actual damage, id. at 1327.
The SCA, we believe, provides such language. Section 2707(c) states, "[i]f the violation [of the SCA] is willful or intentional, the court may assess punitive damages." 18 U.S.C.A. § 2707(c). This sentence lacks the limiting language associated with an award of actual damages and statutory damages, with no references to persons "entitled to recover." The sole limitation is that the violation of the SCA be "willful or intentional," a threshold which the jury found to be met in this case.
Accordingly, we find no error in the district court’s award of punitive damages absent a showing of actual damages. See Saunders, 526 F.3d at 152-155 (approving award of punitive damages under the Fair Credit Reporting Act without award of actual damages); Yohay v. City of Alexandria Employees Credit Union, Inc., 827 F.2d 967, 972 (4th Cir. 1987) (noting "[a]ctual damages are not a statutory prerequisite to an award of punitive damages under the [Fair Credit Reporting Act]"). We must vacate and remand this award, however, for the district court to reevaluate in light of our ruling above that Van Alstyne was not entitled to statutory damages in this case absent proof of actual damages.
So there you go.