Virginia F. Miller v. American Express Company

Virginia Miller brought an action in district court alleging a violation of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1691 et seq., after her American Express card was cancelled following the death of her husband. At issue is whether the American Express Company’s (Amex) policy of automatically cancelling a supplementary cardholder’s account upon the death of the basic cardholder violated the ECOA. The district court granted Amex’s motion for summary judgment. We reverse.

*1237 FACTS

Maurice Miller, plaintiff’s late husband, applied for and received an American Express credit card in 1966. His account was denominated a Basic Card Account. Later in 1966, plaintiff Virginia Miller applied for and was granted a supplementary card. Her application was signed by her husband as the basic cardholder and by her. Mrs. Miller agreed to be personally liable for all charges made on her supplementary card. Her card bore a different account number from her husband’s card, was issued in her own name, required a separate annual fee, and bore a different expiration date from Mr. Miller’s card. The Millers used their American Express cards until Mr. Miller passed away in May, 1979.…

dissenting.

The majority today holds in effect that a credit practice need not be discriminatory to violate the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (the Act). Because this holding is contrary to the clear language and purpose of the Act, I respectfully dissent.

Applicability of § 202.7(c)

Although a close question, I agree with the majority that American Express supplementary cardholders are “contractually liable on an existing open end account” and are thus protected by 12 C.F.R. §■ 202.7(c). In support of its argument that supplementary cardholders are merely “authorized users” of an account, American Express *1241 points out that its agreement with card-members specifically states that only one account — the Basic Card Account — is established and supplementary cardholders are granted the right to use that account. However, what controls is not American Express’s characterization of its credit system, but the rights granted to and liabilities imposed upon the supplementary cardholder. The majority correctly finds that the liabilities imposed upon supplementary cardholders are inconsistent with mere “authorized user” status.

Violation of § 202.7(c)

It is a fact that American…

688 F.2d 1235 Virginia F. MILLER, Plaintiff/Appellant, v. AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY, Defendant/Appellee. No. 81-5257. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted March 4, 1982. Decided Sept. 27, 1982. Kraig J. Marton, Marton, Halladay & Hall, Phoenix, Ariz., for plaintiff/appellant. John G. Sestak, Jennings, Strouss & Salmon, Phoenix, Ariz., for defendant/appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. Before POOLE and BOOCHEVER, Circuit Judges and PFAELZER * , District Judge. BOOCHEVER, Circuit Judge: 1 Virginia Miller brought an action in district court alleging a violation of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1691 et seq., after her American Express card was cancelled following the death of her husband. At issue is whether the American Express Company's (Amex) policy of automatically cancelling a supplementary cardholder's account upon the death of the basic cardholder violated the ECOA. The district court granted Amex's motion for summary judgment. We reverse.FACTS 2 Maurice Miller, plaintiff's late husband, applied for and received an American Express credit card in 1966. His…