Humbolt Bank


A jury verdict against Cardservice International, a wholly owned subsidiary of First Data Corporation, and Humboldt Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of Humboldt Bancorp, resulted in a judgement of $3,150,000.
Security Network, Inc. and Custom Tooling & Service, Inc., operators of a Florida escort service, had sued Cardservice and Humboldt Bank in Los Angeles Superior Court claiming, among other things, that the defendants wrongfully withheld the merchant's processing funds and security deposits following termination of their agreement to process credit card charges for the escort service. The jury found that the refusal to timely release the merchant's funds after termination constituted conversion, and awarded the plaintiffs $150,000 for the merchant's funds wrongfully seized by Cardservice and Humboldt Bank. Additionally, the jury found that the conduct of Humboldt Bank and Cardservice in taking the merchant's funds was done with fraud, oppression, or malice and awarded the plaintiffs punitive damages in the sum of $3 million. Two million dollars of the punitive damages was awarded against Humboldt Bank and $1 million of the punitive damages was awarded against Cardservice. The jury found that Cardservice and Humboldt Bank withheld the merchant's funds without legal justification. In assessing punitive damages, the jury considered the reprehensibility of the defendants' conduct in both withholding the merchant's funds and trying to justify same by alluding to the adult entertainment nature of the plaintiffs' business. SOURCE

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Hopefully things have changed since then.