The District Court for the Southern District of California certified a consumer class asserting violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) by defendant Bennett Law, PLLC. Plaintiff alleged that she received numerous automated debt collection calls on her cell phone from Bennett without her consent. The law firm failed to respond to her complaint, and the court entered a default. The court then proceeded to consider plaintiff’s motion for class ... Keep Reading »
Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) Articles
The latest TCPA class action developments and trends, including news, key cases, and strategies.
District Court Certifies TCPA Class Over Objections to Adequacy of Named Plaintiff and Individualized Issues of Consent
A New York federal district court, after holding an evidentiary hearing, certified a class for alleged violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”). Plaintiff alleged that the defendant, a collection agency, repeatedly called his cell phone using an automated dialing system without his consent, including after being told that he was not the party defendant was trying to reach and after plaintiff had asked to be put on a “do not call” list. Plaintiff ... Keep Reading »
No Revival Of Class Claims For Plaintiff Who Delayed Amending His Complaint In Bad Faith
An Illinois federal district court has ruled that a class plaintiff whose motion for class certification was denied may not avoid that outcome by amending his complaint to introduce a new legal theory and revised class definition if the complaint could have been amended prior to moving for class certification. Chapman’s initial attempt to certify claims under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act failed because the Court found that individual issues would predominate ... Keep Reading »
Sixth Circuit Affirms Class Certification in TCPA Case
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed class certification in a case brought under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), 47 U.S.C. § 227 et seq. Pennsylvania-based distributor Lake City Industrial Products engaged Business to Business Solutions (B2B), a “fax-blasting” company, to transmit approximately 10,000 faxes advertising a pipe-thread sealing tape product. American Copper & Brass, a Michigan-based equipment wholesaler with no preexisting ... Keep Reading »
Amended Class Definition That Excludes Putative Class Member Does Not Preclude American Pipe Tolling
The Eastern District of Michigan recently held that certain claims of a putative class member were tolled under American Pipe & Constr. Co. v. Utah., 414 U.S. 538 (1974), even though the named plaintiff had unsuccessfully moved for certification of an amended class whose definition excluded the putative class member’s claims. In 2013, Plaintiff Machesney filed a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) class action against Ramsgate Insurance Company in the Eastern ... Keep Reading »
Courts Reject Attempts to Pick Off Named Plaintiffs Via Offers Of Judgment
Following the Supreme Court’s 2012 recognition of concurrent federal and state jurisdiction over Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) class actions in Mims v. Arrow Financial Services, federal courts have issued numerous decisions addressing certification of TCPA classes that may be of broader interest to class action lawyers. (By way of example, see our May 20, 2014 post: Ohio District Court Strikes Impermissible "Fail-Safe" Class Allegations.) Two recent TCPA ... Keep Reading »
Speculative Expert Testimony Fails to Satisfy Plaintiff’s Light Numerosity Burden
The relatively light burden of proving numerosity under Rule 23(a) cannot be satisfied with speculative testimony, even if an expert does the speculating, says the Southern District of Florida. In a putative class action brought for violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, plaintiff sought damages for receiving unwanted advertisements via text message by the defendant’s alert service. Plaintiff moved to certify a class of Florida telephone subscribers who ... Keep Reading »
Ohio District Court Strikes Impermissible “Fail-Safe” Class Allegations
In a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) case, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio struck plaintiff’s class action allegations because Plaintiff proposed a “fail-safe” class in which membership was dependent on the validity of the putative class member’s claim. A fail-safe class is impermissible because it includes only those who are entitled to relief. Either the class members win on the merits, or by virtue of losing, they are not in ... Keep Reading »