In a 6-3 opinion, delivered by Justice Kavanaugh, the Supreme Court affirmed the Fourth Circuit’s ruling in Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants, Inc. and held that the government-debt carve-out from the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s robocall restrictions can be severed from the rest of the TCPA, leaving the automated calling provisions intact. The … [Read more...]
Court Enforces TCPA Clickwrap Agreement in a Victory for Marketers
One of the key issues in any Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action lawsuit is whether there exists “prior express written consent.” In a noteworthy victory for marketers, consent related mechanisms made all the difference. In Lundbom v. Schwan's Home Service, Inc., the plaintiff filed a TCPA lawsuit, alleging that the defendant violated the TCPA by sending her … [Read more...]
Court Addresses Unconstitutional TCPA Damages and Who Can be Held Liable
A company that managed the ownership rights of a film hired a company to promote and market the film. There were approximately 3.2 million telephone calls made over a short period of time that delivered a prerecorded audio message from former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. The two plaintiffs received two voice messages and subsequently initiated class action … [Read more...]
Federal Court Holds TCPA Plaintiff Did Not Adequately Allege ATDS
In Bader v. Navient Solutions, LLC (N.D. Ill. June 14, 2019), the North District of Illinois dismissed a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) plaintiff’s claims on the basis that the complaint did not possesses sufficient facts to plausibly allege the defendant had used an automated telephone dialing system (ATDS), consistent with post-ACA International v. Federal … [Read more...]
Telephone Consumer Protection Act Update – TCPA
FCC Commissioner Delivers Pro-Telemarketer TCPA Speech - May 2019 FCC Commissioner Michael O’Reilly recently delivered a telemarketer defense-oriented speech at an event in Washington D.C. One of the many issues he addressed was the continuing landslide of frivolous Telephone Consumer Protection Act lawsuits. Commissioner O’Reilly made his opinion clear – the … [Read more...]
TCPA Alert December 2018
FCC Releases Draft Order to Combat “Robocalls” The Federal Communications Commission recently released two draft orders intended to address unlawful robocalls. The first establishes a nationwide reassigned number database in order to address caller liability under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act when the new user has not provided prior express written consent. The … [Read more...]
FTC Attorney on Recent TCPA Litigation Developments
Congress Proposes Legislation to Combat Robocalls Congress has proposed a bill to attack robocalls. The “TRACE Act” would expand FCC authority under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and empower the FCC to mandate call various rules to reduce ID spoofing. Of particular importance, the Act purports to expand the statute of limitations. At present, the FCC is … [Read more...]
TCPA News for Telemarketers
SCOTUS Grants Certiorari in TCPA Case Following the ACA International decision from the D.C. Circuit, it was a matter of when, not if. The deepening splits of opinion regarding interpretation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act have resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court granting certiorari to a case that could determine whether the judicial system or the Federal … [Read more...]
Individualized Issues of Consent Result in TCPA Class Action Certification Denial
Class actions are designed to promote the efficiency of litigation by allowing the claims of a group of individuals with the same claims to be decided in the same proceeding. They are commonly utilized by plaintiffs’ attorneys in Telephone Consumer Protection Act matters. In the matter of Tomeo v. CitiGroup, Inc., No. 13-C-4046, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 166117 (N.D. Ill. Sept. … [Read more...]