FYI....The claim form has to be postmarked by 08/19/09...
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Quoted Directly from the settlement letter
"You are receiving notice of this legal action and proposed settlement because you may
have been a customer of The Sports Authority, Inc. (“TSA”), who was requested or required to provide a
zip code or “Personal Identification Information” during a credit card transaction at a Sports Authority
store in California from April 8, 2007 through April 30, 2008. Plaintiff Michael Cole (“Cole”) filed this
class action lawsuit against TSA claiming that TSA violated the law by requesting or requiring customers
to provide a zip code or “Personal Identification Information” during credit card transactions. TSA denies
Cole’s allegations.
Cole and TSA have reached a proposed settlement of these claims, the details of which are
described below. If you participate in this settlement, are eligible to receive benefits from this settlement,
and complete and timely return a claim form, then you may receive a twenty dollar ($20.00) Voucher that
can be used toward a purchase at any Sports Authority store."
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The point of the law is that the zip code is not to be written on the charge slip. That gives too much information to anyone who finds (or steals) the charge slip. The thief can then clone the credit card and, with the zip code, charge up to the credit limit. If there's no written zip code on the charge slip, a vital piece of information is missing. After several unsuccessful attempts at guessing a zip code, the credit card issuer's fraud prevention programs will spot the pattern and they'll cancel the card, preventing the fraudulent charge.
There's no harm (and its legal) for retailers to collect the zip code.
The merchant just can't write it on the same slip as the charge slip. There's also a similar law that forbids writing the drivers' license number on the back of a check. It gives too much information to anyone who handles the check and makes identity theft too easy.
Only the last four digits appear on modern electronic receipts, but some stores still use the old card machines that print the entire account number. This is where its most dangerous to write the zip code, when the entire credit card number appears.
So when lawyers file these suits, they're (a) protecting your privacy, (b) reducing the potential for fraud and its attendant costs, and (c) enforcing the laws. Sure, they make money, but nobody does anything for free.
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to be used in a California store. The Sports Authority violated CA law by asking customers to provide zip codes for credit card purchases. Read more at the link. 
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