In Stern v. DoCircle, Inc., 2014 WL 486262 (C.D.Cal. 2014), Judge Guilford certified a TCPA text message class. The facts were as follows: Defendant DoCircle is a business that offers an online service allowing its customers to send text messages. (Rhie Depo., Dkt. No. 42–2 Ex. 2, at 10–11.) Marc Sporn, a third party who conducts business under the name… Read More
Yes, you read it right. In Gragg v. Orange Cab Co., Inc., --- F.Supp.2d ----, 2014 WL 494862 (W.D.Wash. 2014), Judge Lasnik held that a TCPA did not use an ATDS within the meaning of the TCPA. The facts were as follows: Defendant Orange Cab Company, Inc. (Orange Cab) utilizes TaxiMagic, a Ridecharge, Inc. product, as a means of remaining… Read More
In Baird v. Sabre Inc., 2014 WL 320205 (C.D.Cal. 2014), Judge Wilson distinguished Satterfield and held that the Plaintiff, who provided her cellular telephone number to book a flight on Hawaiian Airlines, consented to receive texte messages from Sabre, who contracts with Hawaiian Airlines to provide traveler notification services to passengers. The text message invited Baird to reply “yes” to… Read More
In Sherman v. Yahoo!, Inc., 2014 WL 369384 (S.D.Cal. 2014), Judge Curiel denied Yahoo’s Motion for Summary Judgment that sought to validate it’s “Yahoo! Messenger” system under the TCPA. Defendant describes Yahoo! Messenger as an instant messaging client and associated protocol provided by Yahoo! free of charge that can be downloaded and used by anyone registered as a user with… Read More
In Smith v. Microsoft Corp., --- F.R.D. ----, 2014 WL 323683 (S.D.Cal. 2014), Judge Sammartino denied class certification in a TCPA text-message case arising from Microsoft’s sending unauthorized text messages promoting Microsoft's Xbox to cellular telephones in purported violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Judge Sammartino was neutral on whether the Plaintiff’s interest was paramount and, in doing so,… Read More
In Murphy v. DCI Biologicals Orlando, LLC, 2013 WL 6865772 (M.D.Fla. 2013), Judge Honeywell found that a blood bank did not violate the TCPA by sending text messages to a prior blood donor who had provided his cellular telephone number in connection with giving blood. Murphy was paid for donating his blood through a blood plasma center in Orlando, DCI… Read More
In Fields v. Mobile Messengers America, Inc., 2013 WL 6073426 (N.D.Cal. 2013), Judge Alsup denied certification of a TCPA class action due to individualized inquiries on the issue of consent. Plaintiffs are consumers who claim to be victims of a cell-phone scam known as “cramming.” This is the practice of “placing unauthorized, misleading, or deceptive charges on a consumer's telephone… Read More
In Roy v. Dell Financial Services, LLC, 2013 WL 3678551 (M.D.Pa. 2013), Judge Caputo held that calls to an 800 # for the purposes of debt collection are not subject to the TCPA. The TCPA was “[e]nacted in 1991 as part of the Federal Communications Act” to “deal with an increasingly common nuisance—telemarketing.” ErieNet, Inc. v. Velocity Net, Inc., 156 F.3d… Read More
Sometimes, bad facts don’t make bad law. In Gannon v. Network Telephone Services, Inc., 2013 WL 2450199 (C.D.Cal. 2013), Judge Klausner refused to certify a TCPA text-message class action brought a sex-line operator. The facts were as follows: Defendant NTS is engaged in the business of telephone entertainment, in particular pay-per-call “phone sex” and “SexText.” NTS operates approxi-mately 45,000 telephone… Read More
In Roberts v. PayPal, Inc., 2013 WL 2384242 (N.D.Cal. 2013), Judge Hamilton granted summary judgment to a TCPA defendant who was sued for sending a text message to a Plaintiff who had provided the cell phone number to the defendant as part of using the defendant’s services. What is interesting about this case is that the Court decided not to… Read More
In Carlson v. Nevada Eye Care Professionals, 2013 WL 2319143 (D.Nev. 2013), Judge Jones denied a defendant’s Summary Judgment Motion brought on the basis that the Plaintiff had consented to receive the text messages sent by the Defendant. Plaintiff and class representative Mia Carlson, f.k.a. Mia Shaughnessy, received the following text massage on her cell phone on December 5, 2012: … Read More
In Robbins v. Coca-Cola-Company, 2013 WL 2252646 (S.D.Cal. 2013), Judge Gonzalez found that the Plaintiffs stated a TCPA claim against Coke for SMS text messages sent promoting Coke products. “Whether Plaintiffs gave the required prior express consent is an affirmative defense to be raised and proved by a TCPA defendant, however, and is not an element of Plaintiffs' TCPA claim.”… Read More
In Emanuel v. Los Angeles Lakers, Inc., 2013 WL 1719035 (C.D.Cal. 2013), Judge Wu found that the Plaintiff consented to receive confirmatory text messages from the Los Angeles Lakers by providing his cellular telephone number to the Lakers in an attempt to get his text message on the Jumbo-tron. The facts were as follows: The First Amended Complaint (“FAC”) alleges that… Read More
We previously reported on the Thrasher-Lyon v. CCS Commercial LLC case, and its interlocutory appeal to the Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit. Appellants have filed their opening brief here. Read More
In Shea v. BBVA Compass Bancshares, Inc., 2013 WL 869526 (S.D.Fla. 2013), Judge Moore ordered a TCPA text-message class action to arbitration, finding that the TCPA claim was within the scope of the arbitration clause and the arbitration clause survived the termination of the contractual relationship between the parties. Here, this Court finds clear and unmistakable evidence of the… Read More
In Kristensen v. Credit Payment Services Inc., 2013 WL 686492 (D.Nev. 2013), Judge Dawson found that Plaintiff’s bald recitation of the elements of a text-message TCPA claim was sufficient to survive an FRCP 12(b)(6) Motion. Plaintiff's complaint alleges that Defendant Credit Payment Services Inc. (“Defendant”), directly or through its agents, caused or directed unsolicited SMS text messages to be sent… Read More
GroupMe and the Cargo Airline Association have filed Petitions to the FCC, asking the FCC to re-visit its definition of autodialer and whether consent can be given by someone other than the called party. See the GroupMe Notice of Req for Comment by FCC, US Chamber of Commerce's Comments to the Petition, and a Notice of Ex Parte Meeting with FCC filed by… Read More
In Gomez v. Campbell-Ewald Co., 2013 WL 655237 (C.D.Cal. 2013), Judge Gee found that a claim against a contractor that sent text messages to cellular telephone as part of the US Navy’s marketing campaign fell within the TCPA’s 4-year federal catch-all statute of limitations. In its motion for judgment on the pleadings, Defendant contends that Plaintiff's claim is time-barred by… Read More
In Lee v. Stonebridge Life Ins. Co., --- F.Supp.2d ----, 2013 WL 542854 (N.D.Cal. 2013), Judge Seeborg certified a TCPA-text message class based on the following facts. In this putative class action, plaintiff alleges that defendants violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 227 et seq. (“TCPA”), by sending unsolicited text messages to consumers' cell phones. Plaintiff seeks… Read More
In Gragg v. Orange Cab Co., Inc., 2013 WL 195466 (W.D.Wash. 2013), Judge Lasnik found that Plaintiff’s TCPA failed under Iqbal/Twombly due to failure to plead an ATDS. However, Judge Lasnik set forth the standards for what a Plaintiff would have to allege to properly plead use of an ATDS. The Plaintiff alleges that he received an unsolicited text message… Read More
