Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid, et. al., No. 19-511, 2021 WL 1215717 (S.Ct. April 1, 2021)
On April 1, 2021, the United States Supreme Court released its much anticipated decision addressing the definition the phrase “Automatic Telephone Dialing System” (“ATDS”) used in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. § 227 (“TCPA”). At issue in the underlying case was whether technology used to send a text message constituted an ATDS. Writing for the Court, Justice Sotomayor, joined by Justices, Roberts, Thomas, Breyer, Kagan, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett, wasted no ...
Elzen v. Global Strategy Group, LLC, et al., No. 20-cv-3541 (JPO), 2021 WL 185328 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 19, 2021)
Plaintiff filed a putative class action, claiming Defendants violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. § 227 (TCPA), by sending Plaintiff and others an unsolicited text message survey. The message Plaintiff received stated “DAVID, We’re texting voters about local issues and your opinion matters. Please click to participate:,” providing a link directing Plaintiff to a survey. One Defendant moved to stay the case, contending that resolution of ...
Lidenbaum v. Realgy, LLC, 2020 WL 6361915 (N.D. Ohio Oct. 29, 2020)
Pending before the Court was a class action lawsuit, contending Defendants violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 § U.S.C. 227 (“TCPA”). Defendants filed a Motion to Dismiss under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1), contending that the Court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over Plaintiffs’ claims because they arose during a time that the TCPA included a “government-debt” exception, which exempted calls made to collect a debt owed or guaranteed by the United States held to be unconstitutional in ...
Elizabeth Panzarella v. Navient Solutions, LLC, No. 18-3735, 2020 WL 3250508 (E.D. Pa. June 16, 2020)
Two Plaintiffs filed suit relating to calls Defendant made when a relative’s loan became delinquent. Defendant moved for summary judgment on Plaintiffs’ Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. § 227 (“TCPA”) claims, arguing that the calls were not made using an Automatic Telephone Dialing System (“ATDS”). The TCPA prohibits, in part, calls to a person’s cell phone using an ATDS without their prior express consent. The TCPA defines an ATDS as “equipment that ...
Whittaker v All Reverse Mortgage Inc.. No. CV 20-08016-PCT-DLR, 2020 WL 28229785 (D. Ariz. May 29, 2020)
Plaintiff filed a putative class action, alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. § 227, (TCPA) by placing calls and sending text messages using an Automatic Telephone Dialing System (ATDS). Defendant moved to stay the case pending a ruling by the United States Supreme Court in the case of Barr v AAPC, 140 S.Ct. 812 (Jan. 10, 2020). Plaintiff opposed the Motion, arguing that the decision in AAPC was irrelevant to the merits of the instance case and that ...
Vanessa Wright v. USAA Savings Bank, No. 2:19-cv-00591 WBS CKD, 2020 WL 2615441 (E.D. Cal. May 22, 2020)
Plaintiff, who had a credit card account with Defendant for approximately 18 years, retained counsel to address financial issues facing his household. Counsel prepared a letter of representation and revocation of consent to call Plaintiff, which he sent to Defendant’s headquarters via certified mail. The confirmation notice associated with the letter verified that it was “delivered to the front desk, reception area, or mail room . . . In LAS VEGAS, NV 89169.” Defendant ...
Medley v. Dish Network, LLC, No. 8:16-cv-02534-CEH-CPT (11th Cir. May 1, 2020).
Plaintiff entered into a contract, providing her cell phone number and expressly authorizing Defendant “to contact [her] regarding [her] DISH Network account or to recover any unpaid portion of [her] obligation to DISH, through an automated or predictive dialing system or prerecorded messaging system.” Plaintiff’s counsel sent Defendant three faxes noting the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s (TCPA) prohibition again making any call to their client using an automatic telephone ...
A .pdf copy of the Glasser opinion can be found here.
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA” or the “Act”) has limited telephone calls that can be placed using certain automated equipment since 1991. However, since passage of the Act there has been considerable debate about the type of automated equipment subject to the Act’s restrictions. The TCPA specifically restricts the use of any “automated telephone dialing system” ("ATDS"). The statute defines ATDS as “equipment which has the capacity—(A) to store or produce telephone numbers to be called using a ...
Lazar Shcherb v. Angi Homeservices, Inc., 19-cv-367 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 25, 2019)
Plaintiff filed suit against various corporate defendants alleging that they used an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) to call his cell phone in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) contending that, “[u]pon information and belief,” “when Defendants made these calls, [they] used equipment that had the capacity to store or produce telephone numbers . . . using a random or sequential number generator and/or a predictive dialer” with the capacity to dial such ...
Although courts across the country agree that “a plaintiff class should not be certified unless membership therein is ‘adequately defined and clearly ascertainable,’” the extent of what a plaintiff must provide to satisfy this “implicit requirement” to certification varies among circuit courts. See Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC v. Belcher, No. 18-90011, 2018 WL 3198552, at *3 (11th Cir. June 29, 2018) (citations omitted). For example, some circuit courts have construed the requirement to “mean[] a plaintiff must demonstrate an ‘administratively feasible’ ...
Wilkes v. CareSource Management Group Co., No. 4:16-cv-38 JVB, 2018 WL 4680028 (N.D. Ind. Sept. 29, 2018)
Plaintiff husband and wife applied for health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act through the Health Insurance Marketplace at healthcare.gov ("Marketplace"). In their online application, Plaintiffs provided the wife's cellular telephone number, which the website disclosed could be shared with insurance companies providing insurance plans. When consumers select a plan and submit an application to Marketplace, their application and contact information ...
In Gonzalez v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC, No. 5:18-cv-340-Oc-30PRL, 2018 WL 4217065 (M.D. Fla. Sept. 5, 2018), the Middle District of Florida determined that the D.C. Circuit's opinion in ACA International v. FCC, 885 F.3d 687 (D.C. Cir. 2018) [hereinafter "ACA"], vacated the Federal Communications Commission's ("FCC") 2003, 2008, and 2015 Orders interpreting the definition of an automatic telephone dialing system ("ATDS").
The plaintiff, Wilfredo Gonzalez ("Plaintiff"), alleged that Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC ("Ocwen") used an ATDS to place approximately 500 calls to his ...
On May 14, 2018, in the wake of the landmark decision ACA International v. FCC, 855 F.3d 687 (D.C. Cir. 2018), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a Public Notice seeking comment on a myriad of topics including:
- What constitutes an Automatic Telephone Dialing System (ATDS) in light of the Court of Appeals' finding that the agency's "'capacious understanding of the device's 'capacity' lies considerably beyond the agency's zone of delegated authority"
- What functions a devise must be able to perform to qualify as an ATDS. The Court of Appeals' noted the FCC has defined the ...
The world of Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) litigation is constantly changing. With this evolution, new issues arise on almost a daily basis, challenging those prosecuting and defending these claims. A recent and increasingly litigated issue that both Plaintiff's and Defense counsel agree will likely serve as the next battleground of TCPA litigation is whether calls are made using an Automatic Telephone Dialing System, and particularly:
(1) What constitutes "capacity" as the term is used in the TCPA; and
(2) The level of human intervention necessary to remove a call ...
Anton Ewing v. SQM US, Inc., 3:16-cv-1609-CAB-JLB (S.D. Cal. Sept. 29, 2016)
Plaintiff filed suit, placing at issue a single call to his cell phone using an ATDS, and attempting to represent a class of similarly situated individuals. The only allegation in the Complaint arguably relating to injury was a claim that the cell phone Defendants called was "assigned to a cellular telephone service for which Plaintiff incurs a charge for incoming calls."
Noting this phrasing "mimics the language of the TCPA," and assuming for purposes of the Motion to Dismiss that Plaintiff alleged he ...
Smith v. Altima Medical Equipment, Inc., Case No. Ed CV 16-00339-AB (DTBx) (C.D. Cal. Jul. 29, 2016)
Plaintiff filed a TCPA class action lawsuit based on a single telephone call regarding the sale of medical equipment, claiming harm to herself and the class in the form of "multiple involuntary telephone and electrical charges, the aggravation, nuisance, and invasion of privacy that necessarily accompanies the receipt of unsolicited and harassing telephone calls, and violations of their statutory rights." Defendant moved to dismiss under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rules ...
Eduardo Pozo v. Stellar Recovery Collection Agency, Inc., No. 8:15-cv-929-T-AEP (M.D.Fla. Sept. 2, 2016)
Defendant called Plaintiff believing it was contacting a third party to collect debt on behalf of another. Plaintiff filed suit, asserting various claims including a claim for violation of the TCPA. The TCPA makes it unlawful to, among other things, initiate calls using any Automatic Telephone Dialing System (ATDS) or artificial or prerecorded voice to any telephone number assigned to a cellular telephone service. At issue was whether a LiveVox Human Call Initiator (HCI) is ...
Coatney v. Synchrony Bank, No. 6:16-cv-389-Orl-22TBS (M.D. Fla. Aug. 2, 2011), Ricks v. Allied Interstate, LLC, No. 3:16-cv-00205-HES-PBD (M.D. Fla. July 11, 2016)
In two recently published cases, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida stayed proceedings pending the outcome of ACA International v. Federal Communications Commission, which challenges the FCC's July 10, 2015, Declaratory Ruling. The basis for both Motions to Stay was the fact that the ACA appeal bears directly on the what constitutes an Automatic Telephone Dialing System (ATDS). As the Court in ...
Drozdowski v. Citibank, Inc., 2:15-cv-02786-STA-cgc (Aug. 31, 2016)
Husband and wife Plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit against Defendant regarding calls allegedly made to Plaintiffs' cell phones to collect debt owed on the husband's account after Plaintiffs purportedly revoked consent to be contacted. Defendant filed a Motion to Compel Arbitration, contending that Plaintiffs' claims had to be arbitrated on an individual, non-class basis. At issue were four credit card accounts, three of which belonged to the husband, one of which belonged to the wife and all of which ...
Dixon v. Monterey Fin. Services, Inc., No. 15-cv-03298 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 22, 2016)
At issue before the Court was Plaintiff's Amended Complaint, and Defendant's second motion to strike class definition as a fail-safe class. Noting that "[t]he fail-safe appellation is simply a way of labeling the obvious problems that exist when the class itself is defined in a way that precludes membership unless the liability of defendant is established," the Court concluded that the following class definition was an impermissible fail-safe class:
All Persons within the United States who received ...
Telephone Science Corp. v. Asset Recovery Solutions, LLC, No. 15-cv-5182, 2016 WL 4179150 (N.D. Ill. Aug. 8, 2016)
Plaintiff operates a service called "Nomorobo" designed to help consumers avoid incoming robocalls by analyzing calls made to its "honeypot" numbers using a specialized algorithm enabling it to distinguish between auto and manual dialed calls. Plaintiff filed suit against Defendant alleging that it received 12,240 robocalls between March 2014, and February, 2016, answering 747 of them. Plaintiff claimed to incur a $0.0075 charge for all calls answered ...
Stoops v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Civ. No. 3:15-83 (W.D. Pa. Aug. 12, 2016)
After granting summary judgment for lack of standing against a plaintiff who bought multiple cell phones and numbers for purposes of filing TCPA lawsuits, the Court was faced with a Motion to Amend Judgment wherein Plaintiff argued that dismissal for lack of standing mandated remand to state court for adjudication. At issue was whether a lack of prudential standing results in a lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
Citing extensively from Hvizdak v. Citizens Bank of Pa., No. 14-cv-406 (W.D. Pa. Aug. 6, 2015), the ...
Colette Jenkins v. MGage, LLC, No. 1:14-cv-2791-WSD (N.D. Ga. Aug. 12, 2016)
Plaintiff filed this TCPA lawsuit after receiving 150 text messages over an approximately one year period during which she tried to stop the messages on 17 occasions. Defendant moved for summary judgment, contending the messages were not sent using an Automatic Telephone Dialing System (ATDS) but rather as a result of human intervention. Thus, Defendant argued, since it did not use an ATDS (a vital component of a TCPA claim) to send the messages, the claim should be dismissed.
Granting summary judgment in ...
On August 4, 2016, the FCC released a Declaratory Ruling confirming that schools and utilities making robo calls do not violate the TCPA under certain circumstances. The Ruling, addressed Petitions filed by Blackboard, Inc. and Edison Electric Institute and American Gas Association. Blackboard, Inc. requested that "all automated informational messages sent by an educational organization via a recipient's requested method of notification are calls made for an 'emergency purpose' and thus outside the requirements of the TCPA," including messages made for unexcused ...
Following the Supreme Court's ruling in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, 136 S. Ct. 1540 (U.S. May 16, 2016), it is clear that "Article III standing requires a concrete injury even in the context of a statutory violation," such that a plaintiff cannot "allege a bare procedural violation, divorced from any concrete harm, and satisfy the injury-in-fact requirement of Article III." Id. at 1549. Yet, the Court did not go so far as to rule that "the risk of real harm cannot satisfy the requirement of concreteness," and instead recognized that "the violation of a procedural right granted by statute can ...
American Association of Political Consultants, Inc. et al. v. Lynch, Civil Action No. 5:16-cv-00252 (E.D.N.C., May 12, 2016).
On May 12, 2016, five politically based organizations filed a suit against Loretta Lynch, in her official capacity as Attorney General of the United States seeking a declaratory judgment that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act's ("TCPA") restrictions on automated or prerecorded calls to cell phones are an unconstitutional violation of their First Amendment rights because the restrictions are content-based and cannot withstand strict scrutiny ...
Harrington v. Regions Bank, No. 2:15-cv-522-Ftm-29MRM (M.D. Fla. Jan. 29, 2016) Before the Court was Defendant's Motion to Compel Arbitration and Stay Proceedings. Plaintiffs opposed the Motion, contending that their TCPA claims were not subject to arbitration provisions found in various loan documents executed in connection with the subject debt and other account relationships with Defendant. It was undisputed, however, that the arbitration provisions contained a delegation clause vesting determinations of arbitrability with the arbitrator, not the court. Granting the ...
"Plaintiff's claim clearly falls within the scope of the Card Agreement's arbitration clause, which provides that 'all Claims are subject to ...
Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez, No. 14-857, 2016 WL 228345 (U.S. Jan. 20, 2016) In a much anticipated decision, a majority of the United States Supreme Court held that unaccepted offers of full judgment and settlement do not moot claims. By way of background, Plaintiff filed a TCPA class action. Defendant made an a settlement offer and offer of judgment for the amount of relief the named plaintiff could obtain, then moved to dismiss the case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction when Plaintiff rejected the offers. The Majority (Justices Ginsberg, Kennedy, Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan)
Thirty-eight members of the Senate and House of Representatives wrote Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler, asking the FCC to limit application of Section 301, to "accomplish several important consumer protection objectives:"
- Issue an immediate pronouncement stating that no calls can be made pursuant to Section 301, until the FCC finalizes regulations required by the provision
- Create Regulations governing calls made pursuant to Section 301 that:
Limit permissible calls to those collecting defaulted debt
Limit calls to reassigned numbers
Limit the number ...
On November 4, 2015, after President Obama signed the Bipartisan Budget Agreement of 2015 into law, Senator Ed Markey introduced legislation to repeal Section 301 of the agreement that exempted from the TCPA's requirement of prior express consent calls made relating to debt owed to, or backed by the federal government.
On November 2, 2015, the United States Supreme Court heard oral argument in Spokeo v. Robins, which raises the question of what constitutes requisite injury to support a claim for violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. In Spokeo, Plaintiff filed a class action Complaint against Defendant, accusing Defendant of violating the FCRA by publishing false information about him. The trial court dismissed Plaintiff's claim, concluding Plaintiff had not experienced the requisite harm to sustain a claim. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed, holding that violation ...
Leyse v. Bank of America Nat. Ass'n, No. 14-4073N (3rd Cir. Oct. 14, 2015) After receiving a prerecorded telemarketing call on the landline shared with his roommate, Plaintiff filed a class action lawsuit, which was met with a Rule 12(b)(6) Motion to Dismiss. Of pertinence, is the U.S. Court of Appeals' holding that despite the undisputed fact Plaintiff's roommate was the subscriber and intended recipient of the call, Plaintiff had standing to prosecute a TCPA claim. Recognizing that consideration of who is the "called party" is relevant because prior consent of such an individual to ...
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act defines the phrase Automatic Telephone Dialing System (ATDS) as equipment that has the capacity: (A) to store or produce telephone numbers to be called, using a random or sequential number generator; and (B) to dial such numbers. On November 19, 2013, the FCC issued a public notice seeking comment on a Petition for Expedited Declaratory Ruling and/or Expedited Rulemaking filed by the Professional Association for Customer Engagement (PACE). The Petition seeks a Declaratory Ruling: 1. Clarifying that a dialing system is not an ATDS unless it has ...
Jackson Five Star Catering, Inc. v. John R. Beason and Tax Connection Worldwide, LLC, No. 10-10010, 2013 WL 5966340 (E.D. Mich. Nov. 8, 2013) Pending before the Court were several motions, including Defendant business owner's motion for summary judgment, contending he could not be held individually liable for unsolicited fax advertisements sent by a third party on behalf of his company. Defendant argued that he could only be held individually liable if Plaintiff pierced the corporate veil. Rejecting this argument, the court noted that though the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has ...
Cellco Partners v. Plaza Resorts, Inc., No. 12-81238-CIV, 2013 WL 5436553 (S.D. Fla. Sept. 27, 2013) Plaintiff Cellco Partnership d/b/a Verizon Wireless filed a TCPA claim alleging millions of calls were placed to Verizon customers, approximately 27,678 of which were made to cell phones Verizon owns, pays for and provides to employees to conduct Verizon business. The ultimate question presented in the case was who possessed the TCPA cause of action, Verizon or its employee, since the TCPA provides that it is a violation of the statute to make a call without the prior express consent of ...
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) has increasingly become a target for consumers and their attorneys for suits aimed at collection agencies. TCPA suits in August rose 15.4 percent from July and 72 percent compared to August 2012. Year-to-date, TCPA suits are up 65 percent according to an article published by InsideArm.
Summary of August lawsuits:
- There were about 1,118 unique plaintiffs (including multiple plaintiffs in one suit).
- Of those plaintiffs, about 373, or (33.4%), had sued under consumer statutes before.
- Combined, those plaintiffs have filed about 1,974 ...
Physicians HealthSource, Inc. v. Multiplan Services, Corp., No. 12-11693-GAO, 2013 WL 2599134 (D. Mass. Sept. 18, 2013) According to the Complaint, Plaintiff did not give Defendant permission to send it faxes. The TCPA prohibits unsolicited advertisements sent via facsimile. But advertisements are exempt from the prohibition if: (1) the sender has an established business relationship with the fax recipient; (2) the sender obtained the recipient's fax number through a voluntary disclosure by the recipient; and (3) the unsolicited fax contains language clearly indicating how ...
Whaley v. T-Mobile, USA, Inc., No. 13-31-DLB-JGW, 2013 WL 5155342 (E.D. Ky. Sept. 12, 2013) Plaintiff opened a cell phone account with Defendant. Terms and conditions of the account included an arbitration provision in bold letters. While Plaintiff was allowed an opportunity to opt out of the arbitration procedures by calling a 1-800 number within 30 days of activating service, he did not exercise this option. According to the Complaint, Defendant later began calling Plaintiff to collect debt from a third party. He filed suit alleging violations of the TCPA and Defendant moved to ...
Hunt v. 21st Mortgage Corp., No. 2:12-cv-2697-WMA, 2013 WL 5230061 (N.D. Ala. Sept. 17, 2013) Pending before the court was a Motion to Compel Discovery during which the issue of what constitutes an Automatic Telephone Dialing System (ATDS) was addressed. The court began its analysis noting that the TCPA defines an ATDS as equipment which has the capacity– (A) to store or produce telephone numbers to be called, using a random or sequential number generator; and (B) to dial such numbers. Based on this definition, Plaintiff argued that while Defendant's system could not, in the state ...
A class action complaint was filed against Defendant who sent 8,430 faxes to more than 200 people containing business advise. The trial court granted judgment against Defendant in the amount of $4,215,000, which Defendant appealed. Rejecting any argument that a fax recipient must actually print a fax or have otherwise experienced monetary loss to state a claim, the Court stated that the TCPA provides a $500 penalty for annoyance adding that even a recipient who gets the fax on a computer and deletes it without printing experiences some loss; "the value of time necessary to realize that ...
Plaintiff completed a credit application to purchase computers, which required her to provide a home phone number. Plaintiff listed her cell phone number but did not identify it as her cell phone number or indicate Defendant could use an Automatic Telephone Dialing System (ATDS) to call the number. After purchasing several thousand dollars in computer equipment, Defendant began using an ATDS to call Plaintiff, leaving pre-recorded messages on her voicemail concerning debt owed. Thereafter, Plaintiff, sent Defendant a letter asking that the calls regarding her account stop ...
Roy v. Dell Fin. Services, LLC, No. 3:13-cv-738, 2013 WL 3678551 (M.D. Pa. July 12, 2013) Plaintiff, who purchased computers and did not pay debt owed, filed suit against Defendant alleging that Defendant called him using an automatic telephone dialing system or pre-recorded messages more than 1,000 times without his consent. The Complaint further alleged that the calls were made to a 1-800 number for which Plaintiff claims to have been charged a fee any time a call is made to the number. Defendant filed a Motion to Dismiss, which the Court granted stating that "'the FCC has determined ...
Hanley v. Green Tree Servicing, LLC, No. 12 C 4158 (N.D. Ill. March 21, 2013) After allowing Plaintiff multiple opportunities to submit additional authority in opposition to Defendant's Motion to Dismiss, the court dismissed his class action Complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, stating "[t]his case is much ado about nothing. At least that is the conclusion that the Court must reach after reviewing Hanley's wholly inadequate complaint in which next to nothing is pleaded." The court added that "Hanley does not plead how many calls [Defendant ...
Bank v. Independence Energy Group, LLC, No. 12-cv-1369 (E.D.N.Y. May 1, 2013) Pending before the Court was Plaintiff's Motion to Reconsider its dismissal of a class action Complaint based on a conclusion that New York Civil Practice Law 901(b) bars TCPA class actions in federal court. Plaintiff relied on the United States Supreme Court's holdings in Mims v. Arrow Fin. Servs., LLC, and various district court cases supporting Plaintiff's argument. Denying the Motion, the court concluded that Mims does not abrogate the U.S. Court of Appeals' holding in Holster III v. Gatco, Inc, that ...
Larry v. Doctors Answers, LLC, No. cv-12-S-3510-NE, 2013 WL 987879 (N.D. Ala. March 8, 2013 An Alabama Plaintiff sued New Jersey Defendants for violating the TCPA by sending an unsolicited fax advertising material for answering services provided by Defendant. Defendant filed a Motion to Dismiss challenging Personal Jurisdiction, Venue and Plaintiff's ability to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. The court denied the motion on all grounds. With respect to Defendant's challenge to the court's personal jurisdiction, the court recited the United States Supreme Court's ...
Small v. Kmart Holdings, Corp., No. 12-cv-11062, 2013 WL 1157339 (E.D. Mich. March 20, 2013) Pending before the court was Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's TCPA claim contending Defendant sent unsolicited faxes in violation of the law. Also pending before the court was Defendant's Motion to Strike class allegations based on Michigan law prohibiting such actions. Denying the Motion to Dismiss, the court stated "Plaintiff has alleged that the Defendants sent the faxes; that Plaintiff did not give his permission to receive such faxes; there was an insufficient opt-out ...
Wellington Homes, Inc. v. West Dundee China Palace Restaurant, No. 2-12-0740 (Ill App. 2d March 13, 2013) Plaintiff filed suit, placing at issue allegedly unsolicited faxes sent in violation of the TCPA. At issue was the applicable statute of limitations. Defendant's argued that the Illinois two-year statute governing claims brought for statutory damages governed. Plaintiff argued the federal four-year statute of limitations codified in 28 U.S.C. § 1658 governed. The trial court agreed with Plaintiff but certified the question to the appellate court. Holding that the the ...
Bias Yaakov of Spring Valley v. Peterson Nelnet, LLC, No. Civ. 11-00011, 2013 WL 663301 (D.N.J. Feb. 21, 2013) Pending before the court was Defendant's Motion to Reconsider denial of its Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's TCPA class action Complaint or in the alternative Plaintiff's class action allegations on the grounds that applicable state law prohibited maintenance of such proceedings. In the alternative Defendant requested that the court certify its Order for interlocutory appeal. Refusing to reconsider its Order, the court heeded the Third Circuit's directive in Landsman & ...
Birchmeier v. Caribbean Cruise Line, Inc., 2012 WL 7062748 (N.D.Ill. Dec. 31, 2012) Plaintiffs filed suit alleging Defendants made or caused unsolicited calls to their cell phones in violation of the TCPA while acting under the guise of conducting a political survey to get their foot in the door to sell ocean cruises. Defendants filed Motions to Dismiss, advancing multiple arguments, all of which were rejected. For example, Defendants argued that Plaintiffs ran afoul of Rule 8 by not distinguishing the role of each Defendant. But the court held that Plaintiffs alleged Defendants ...
In re Capital One Telephone Consumer Protection Act Litigation, No. MDL 2416 (N.D. Ill. Dec. 10, 2012) Over opposition from all responding Plaintiffs, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) ordered centralization in the Northern District of Illinois of more than 30 actions asserting TCPA claims against Defendant, including adversary proceedings. The JPML's conclusion was based on the fact that the subject actions shared factual issues regarding Defendant's policies and procedures for calling, or directing its agents to call, consumers, as well as Defendant's ...
In re Matter of Rules and Regulations Implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991; SoundBite Communications, Inc. Petition for Expedited Declaratory Ruling, CG Docket No. 02-278 (Nov. 29, 2012) Pending before the Federal Communications Commission was a Petition to determine whether sending a single text using an Automatic Telephone Dialing System (ATDS) confirming receipt of a request that no further text messages be sent violated the TCPA. The FCC concluded that a text message falls within a recipient's prior express consent to receive text messages and does not ...
Ploch v. FirstSource Advantage, LLC, No. 4:12-cv-310-JAR, 2012 WL 538476 (E.D. Mo. Nov. 1, 2012) Defendant moved for summary judgment on Plaintiff's claim for violation of the TCPA, contending that Plaintiff could not adduce any evidence that it used an Automatic Telephone Dialing System (ATDS) to call Plaintiff's cell phone, and did not leave any prerecorded message on Plaintiff's cell phone. Defendant submitted a declaration from its Dialer Operations Manager stating that Defendant did not place any calls to Plaintiff's cell phone using an ATDS, and all calls were made through ...
Pinkard v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., No. 3:12-cv-02902-CLS, 2012 WL (N.D. Ala. Nov. 9, 2012) After dropping off a prescription with Defendant, Plaintiff was asked for several pieces of information, including her cell phone number. According to Defendant, the number was needed "in case there were any questions that came up." Defendant did not explicitly seek permission to send Plaintiff text messages, nonetheless, it sent an undisclosed number within hours of Plaintiff leaving her prescription with Defendant. When Plaintiff asked Defendant why she was receiving the text messages ...
Ryabyshchuck v. Citibank (South Dakota), N.A., No. 11-cv-1236-IEG (WVG), 2012 WL 5379143 (S.D. Cal. Oct. 30, 2012) Pending before the court were cross-motions for summary judgment on the dispositive issue of whether confirmatory text messages sent to a cell phone number voluntarily submitted via an on-line credit application violated the TCPA. Specifically, after providing his cell phone number to Defendant, Plaintiff received a text message from a third-party vendor acting on behalf of Defendant. Plaintiff replied to the text with the word “stop,” to which Defendant sent a ...
Columbia Casualty Co. v. Hiar Holdings, L.L.C., No. ED 98253 (MO. App. E.D. Oct. 23, 2012) Plaintiff insurance company appealed the trial court's summary judgment order in favor of Defendants who had settled an underlying action involving the allegedly unsolicited transmission of more than 10,000 faxes in violation of the TCPA for $5 Million. Specifically at issue in the declaratory judgment action was whether Plaintiff's insurance policy provided coverage for the settlement. Reversing and rendering judgment in favor of Plaintiff, the court noted its previous opinion ...
Martin v. Cellco Partnership d/b/a Verizon Wireless, et al., No. 12 C 5147, 2012 WL 5048854 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 18, 2012) Plaintiff entered into a wireless contract with Defendant, which he later canceled. Plaintiff sent Defendant a payment with the cancellation notice of the amount he owed under the contract as well as revocation of consent to call his cell phone number. Defendant sent Plaintiff a bill, which included an early termination fee, restocking fee, fees for services used and other taxes and charges. Plaintiff did not pay the fees, and Defendant assigned the debt to three ...
In re Enhanced Recovery Company, LLC, No. MDL 2398 (Oct. 18, 2012 JPML) Pending before the panel were various Plaintiffs' request to centralize TCPA litigation against Defendant in the Northern District of Illinois. Defendant joined the request for centralization, but argued for transfer to the Middle District of Florida. No party opposed centralization. While noting that the cases involved relatively few parties, and actions at present, the Panel concluded that centralization will eliminate duplicative discovery, prevent inconsistent pretrial rulings, including with ...
Buslepp v. Improv Miami, Inc., No. 12-601771-CIV, 2012 WL 4919809 (S.D. Fla. Oct. 16, 2012) Plaintiff filed a purported class action, contending that Defendant, which promotes and hosts events at its comedy club, sent unsolicited commercial text messages to potential customers using an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) and without prior express consent in violation of the TCPA. Plaintiff moved for summary judgment on his individual claims, which Defendant opposed contending Plaintiff failed to establish the elements of a claim under the TCPA. Noting that the TCPA ...
Bais Yaakov of Spring Valley v. Peterson's Nelnet, LLC, No. 11-00011, 2012 WL 4903269 (D.N.J. Oct. 17, 2012) Plaintiff's class action complaint placed at issue allegedly unsolicited fax advertisements Defendant purportedly sent in violation of the TCPA. Defendant moved to dismiss the complaint, or in the alternative to dismiss the class action component of the complaint, arguing that New York Civil Practice Law § 901(b), which prohibits maintenance of class actions where statutory penalties are sought unless the statute specifically authorizes class actions, prohibited ...
Evans & Green, LLP v. That's Great News, LLC, No. 11-3340-cv-s-ODS, 2012 WL 4888471 (W.D. Mo. Oct. 15, 2012) Plaintiff law firm filed a class action complaint against an individual and corporate Defendant alleging that Defendants sent numerous unsolicited facsimile advertisements during a four-year period, specifically alleging that Defendants sent 105,826 faxes in the month of March, 2010, three of which were received by Plaintiff. The case was removed to federal court, after which time defense counsel withdrew. After warning the corporate Defendant that counsel must be ...
3081 Main Street, LLC d/b/a New England Wine & Spirits v. Business Owners Liab. Team LLC d/b/a Bolt Ins. Agency, No. 3:11-cv-1320 (SRU), 2012 WL 4755048 (D. Conn. Sept. 24, 2012) Pending before the court was a Motion for Class certification and for Stay of Motion for Class Certification. Recognizing that class certification is only appropriate if the court is satisfied, after a rigorous analysis, that the prerequisites of Rule 23(a) have been satisfied, the court concluded that such analysis was impracticable because Plaintiff filed the Motion for Class Certification before any ...
Buslepp v. B & B Entertainment, LLC, No. 12-60089-CIV, 2012 WL 4761509 (S.D. Fla. Oct. 5, 2012) Plaintiff's claims in this purported class action arose out of a contention that he received unsolicited commercial text message solicitations from an adult night club. Both Plaintiff and Defendant moved for summary judgment. Defendant argued that its Rule 68 Offer of a $6,000 Judgment mooted Plaintiff's claims. The court rejected this argument for two reasons: (1) The offer was silent with respect to Plaintiff's claim for injunctive relief, and, as such, did not afford full relief; and ...
Barton v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC, Civil No. 12—162 (MJD/JJG), 2012 WL 449860 (D.Minn. Sept. 26, 2012) Plaintiff asserted several claims relating to Defendants' alleged efforts to collect mortgage debt. Dismissing Plaintiff's TCPA claim for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, the court stated "Plaintiff alleges that Defendants violated the TCPA by contacting her on her cell phone. The TCPA prohibits the use of automated telephone equipment to a cellular telephone for which the party is charged for the call. 47 § 227(b)(1)(A)(iii). The TCPA does not ...
Bank v. Sparks Energy Holdings, LLC, Civ. No. 4:11-cv-4082, 2012 WL 4097749 (S.D. Tex. Sept. 13, 2012) Plaintiff, a citizen of the State of New York, filed a purported class action lawsuit in Texas against Defendant. At issue was an allegedly unsolicited voice message Plaintiff received on his residential phone line stating: "Hello, this is [omission in the original] pertaining to your current electric bill with Con Edison, reference number 42648967. We are now able to offer you a lower rate on your electricity bill through the recent government deregulation. Press five to be ...
Owners Ins. Co. v. European Auto Works, Inc., No. 11-3068, 2012 WL 4052406 (8th Cir. Sept. 17, 2012). At issue in the declaratory judgment action filed by Owners Insurance Company against European Auto Works, Inc. was whether Plaintiff's insurance policy provided coverage for a $1,951,500 settlement of a class action lawsuit, which was only enforceable against the insurer, not the insured, if coverage was found to exist. Recognizing that the primary issue presented was whether the advertising injury provision for “oral or written publication of material that violates a person's ...
FDS Restaurants, Inc. v. All Plumbing, Inc., Civ. No. 12-394 (RMC), 2012 WL 4052847 (D.D.C. Sept. 14, 2012). In FDS Restaurants, Inc. v. All Plumbing, Inc., Defendants sought to remove a TCPA case to federal court, arguing that the United States Supreme Court's holding in Mims v. Arrow Fin. Servs. LLC, 132 S.Ct. 740 (2012) recognizing that the TCPA creates federal question jurisdiction was a triggering event allowing removal. While cases not originally removable can be removed within 30 days after receipt through service or otherwise of an amended pleading motion, order, or other ...
Mey v. Pinnacle Security, LLC, No. 5:11-cv-47, 2012 WL 4009718 (N.D. W.Va. Sept. 12, 2012) Plaintiff filed a purported class action lawsuit relating to a call from an unidentified party, advertising Defendant's goods and services received on a cell phone she owned but was being used by her son. Defendant moved for summary judgment, arguing that it did not make the call, and, as such, was not liable for the alleged TCPA violation. Concluding that the TCPA authorizes two private causes set forth in: (1) 47 U.S.C. § 227(c)(5); and (2) 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3), the court held that Plaintiff could ...
While lawsuits against accounts receivable management firms are down 5 percent compared to the same point in 2011, lawsuit asserting claims for violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. § 227 are up almost 47 percent according to an article published by insideARM.com
A proposed settlement has been reached in a class action filed against Jiffy Lube relating to 2.3 million marketing text messages allegedly sent on April 21, 2010. Pursuant to the terms of the settlement class members will be provided with certificates for goods/services valued up to $46,844,780.00, with a cash redemption value up to $35,133,585.00. The settlement also proposes that class counsel receive up to 366,300 certificates (with a cash equivalent of $4,750,000, representing approximately 13.51 percent of the cash value made available to the class).
In a class action lawsuit brought on behalf of those purportedly receiving text messages regarding the XBOX gaming system, Defendant argued that the absence of allegations that Plaintiff was himself charged by his wireless carrier for the text message he received, combined with the Complaint's reliance on general allegations of a “growing problem” of “wireless spam” and other non-particularized forms of harm, were insufficient to establish a cognizable injury to Smith. Plaintiff countered, contending that he experienced–and alleged–numerous sufficiently ...
The phrases “artificial” and “pre-recorded voices” are self-explanatory — for example, an artificial voice is a computer generated voice, and a pre-recorded voice is simply a pre-recorded message that an individual would hear when answering a call. The TCPA defines Automatic Telephone Dialing Systems (ATDS) as equipment that has the capacity to store or produce telephone numbers to be called using a random or sequential number generator to dial numbers. ATDS have also been described as including: (1) predictive dialers, i.e., equipment that eliminates the need for time ...
Though the TCPA is a federal statute, until recently, a split of authority existed as to whether federal district courts could exercise original federal question jurisdiction over TCPA claims. This was due to the fact that the Act contains distinct provisions governing civil actions brought by private parties, and state attorneys general. On the one hand, the TCPA allows private parties to bring TCPA claims in an appropriate court of a state if otherwise permitted by the laws or rules of that state. States attorney generals on the other hand are limited to bringing TCPA claims in ...
Private party litigants can seek the following relief under the TCPA: (1) Injunctive relief; (2) Actual damages or $500 for each violation of the Act (whichever is greater); or (3) Both Injunctive relief and damages (47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3)). Courts also have the discretion to treble damage awards if a violation of the Act is "willful and knowing," i.e., each $500 violation could be increased to $1,500 in the court's discretion. What constitutes a "willful and knowing" violation of the TCPA depends on the court in which the action is filed. Specifically, some courts hold that a defendant ...
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. § 227 (TCPA) is a federal statute that was enacted in 1991 to address concerns relating to telemarketing/solicitation practices. It amended the Communications Act of 1934, and has been characterized by Manuel H. Newberger, in FDCPA Updated On The TCPA, Time-Barred Debt and Voice Mail Messages, as “one of the new weapons of choice of those suing debt collectors.” But it has far broader application. For example, it has entangled not only debt collectors but also other businesses ranging from local businesses to national banks and ...
Thrasher-Lyon v. CCS Commercial, LLC, No. 11 C 04472, 2012 WL 3835089 (E.D. Ill. Sept. 4, 2012) Pending before the Court was the question of whether "prior express consent" under Section 227(b)(1)(A) of the TCPA means consent to be contacted in general, or consent to be contacted via "robo-calls." By way of background, Plaintiff, who was involved in a car accident, gave her cell phone number to the driver whose car she hit. The driver's insurer called Plaintiff for information about the accident. During the call, the agent asked Plaintiff for the best way to reach her. She said the number ...
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. § 227 (TCPA) is a federal statute that was enacted to address concerns relating to telemarketing/solicitation practices. During the past several years, however, the Act has been applied to render multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements against both big and small companies across the country. Judicial interpretation of the Act has also steadily increased and undergone significant change. For example, until recently, many Circuit Courts of Appeal believed that the TCPA did not create federal question subject matter ...