Last Thursday (4/19) I received an email from an attorney's office requesting participation in a class action lawsuit against the IRS. First, I am not a litigious person. I believe in our legal system, but unfortunately the magnitude of this issue overshadows the need to seek retribution. But I would rather see our government throw its weight behind changing laws, policies, and practices to overhaul both the technical and human elements of its security and privacy systems - vice going crazy over playing damage control over some tax returns.
"You are receiving this email as one of our potential class members in the suit we have filed for refunds from the IRS.
We filed our suit naming Chris and Jay Gordon as
named plaintiffs. Within two days, the Gordon’s received their refund.
This gives the IRS a chance to argue that the Gordon’s cannot bring
suit since they were paid and, therefore have
no “standing” to sue. Because of this, we amended the complaint and
added Crystal Lake as a named plaintiff. Within days, Crystal received
her refund. The IRS has now filed a motion to dismiss claiming that the
Gordon’s and Ms. Lake lack standing to sue.
This type of behavior happens a lot in the class action arena.
However, courts have come to recognize that, in most cases where a
defendant’s conduct toward the plaintiff changes after a suit has been
filed, the defendant has not turned over a new leaf but
is trying to undermine the lawsuit. Accordingly, when this occurs, the
courts now place the burden on the defendant to prove that it is not
merely trying to disqualify the named plaintiffs. Unfortunately, when
the federal government is the defendant, the
standard is different. The burden is on us to prove the IRS is taking
deliberate steps to eliminate our named plaintiffs by providing refunds
to plaintiffs after they are named in the suit. Accordingly, we wish to
file an additional amended complaint with
more named plaintiffs. Many of you have indicated in the past that you
would be willing to serve as a named representative party plaintiff. I
have attached a form retainer agreement. If you are interested in
actively participating, please sign the retainer
letter return it to us. Please note, our amended complaint must be
filed by Monday (April 23) so we'll need a quick response."
There are approximately 215,000,000 taxpayers in the United States. Of that, approximately 460,000 individuals have been reported affected by tax fraud since 2008. That is roughly less that a quarter of a percent of all taxpayers affected by this despicable crime. Yes - IT SUCKS. However, I just want my tax return. I don't need to sue Uncle Sam - just do what's right, okay?
Here is the text from the email:
"You are receiving this email as one of our potential class members in the suit we have filed for refunds from the IRS.
There are approximately 215,000,000 taxpayers in the United States. Of that, approximately 460,000 individuals have been reported affected by tax fraud since 2008. That is roughly less that a quarter of a percent of all taxpayers affected by this despicable crime. Yes - IT SUCKS. However, I just want my tax return. I don't need to sue Uncle Sam - just do what's right, okay?
