Cases of Note
TCPA Claims Dismissed for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction, Failure to Allege an Agency Relationship
The Western District of Texas recently dismissed TCPA claim for
the Plaintiff's failure to allege an agency relationship
between the Defendant company, and the third-party who actually placed the
calls at issue. Plaintiff sued Defendant Wide Merchant Investment
("WMI"), a corporation offering merchant advances to
small businesses, its CEO David Boem Joon Kim, and Synergy
Financial ("Synergy") for calls made to Plaintiff by
Synergy, an independent sales organization. Plaintiff alleged that
Synergy called him in violation of the TCPA multiple times at the
behest of Defendant. Defendant moved to dismiss for lack of
personal jurisdiction and failure to state a claim.
After quickly holding that it did not have general jurisdiction
over the non-resident Defendants, the Court proceeded to analyze
whether it possessed specific jurisdiction over WMI and Kim, asking
whether the "case ar[ose] out of or result[ed] from the
defendant's forum-related contacts." Although the Court
concluded that the phone calls and text messages that Plaintiff
received were forum-related contacts, it ultimately held that they
were "not the Defendants' contacts, [as] the calls and
messages came from Synergy."
To establish Defendant's contacts with the state, the
Plaintiff must have plead that an "agency relationship
exist[ed]" between the non-resident Defendants and Synergy.
For an agency relationship to exist, Plaintiff must have plausibly
alleged that Synergy "manifest[ed] assent to [Defendants] that
[Synergy] shall act on [Defendants'] behalf and subject to
[Defendants'] control." The Court found, however, that the
Defendants did not exercise any control over "the means and
methods by which Synergy carrie[d] out its duties" and that
Defendants "had no control over Synergy's marketing
campaign, how Synergy obtained leads, and what Synergy said during
calls." Further, no one at the Defendant company had "any
knowledge of any sort of calls made by Synergy, and that
[Defendants] did not know, and had never received any complaints,
of Synergy making telemarketing calls in violation of the
TCPA." Indeed, the contract at-issue allowed both parties to
terminate at any time, forbid Synergy from using the logo,
trademark, or name of Defendants' business without consent,
and, most notably, did not specify how Synergy would market the
Defendants' services. Plaintiff's allegations could not
support a direct agency relationship sufficient to maintain
jurisdiction.
The Court also concluded that no apparent authority or ratification
existed, as neither WMI nor Kim "held Synergy out as
possessing authority to make calls on their behalf," and
Defendants attested that they did not know of any calls made by
Synergy in potential violation of the TCPA prior to the lawsuit.
The Court, therefore, dismissed the claim for lack of personal
jurisdiction.
Callier v. Wide Merch. Inv., Inc., No. EP-22-CV-00123-FM,
2023 WL 3167440 (W.D. Tex. Apr. 27, 2023)
Following Trial, Court Rejects Double Recovery; Holds TCPA Damages Limited to One Violation per Call under Section 227(c)(5) for a Single Call or Text; Rejects "Willful or Knowing" Damages
Following trial before the Northern District of Texas, the jury found Plaintiff established that
defendant called and texted Plaintiff in violation of the
TCPA's Do-Not-Call proscriptions. Plaintiff then moved for
judgment on the jury verdict to establish that the jury's
findings also suffice to establish Plaintiff is entitled to damages
on his Internal Do-Not-Call claim. During trial on Plaintiff's
individual claim, Plaintiff presented evidence of a number of
communications from Defendant that violated the TCPA, including ten
texts and three calls made while Plaintiff was registered on the
National Do-Not-Call registry, and four messages after Plaintiff
requested that Defendant stop calling him. The jury ultimately
awarded the statutory penalty of $500 per violation for all
seventeen of those claims. However, for the four calls after
Plaintiff asked to be placed on the Defendant's internal
Do-Not-Call list, the jury awarded Plaintiff $500 for both the
Federal DNC and Internal DNC violations for the same call.
Plaintiff moved to enforce the jury's award of damages and seek
recovery for violations for both violations under Section
227(c)(5).
The Court, finding that Plaintiff "point[ed] to no case law
that permits a plaintiff to recover damages for multiple violations
under Section 227(c)(5) for a single call or text" held that
unlike Sections 227(b), a Plaintiff cannot recover damages for
multiple violations for a single call or text under Section
227(c)(5). Analyzing several circuit court panels, the Court
adopted the Sixth Circuit's reasoning in Charvat v. GVN
Mich., Inc., 561 F.3d 623 (6th Cir. 2009) and reasoned that
the statutory language of Section 227(c)(5) "unambiguously
allows for statutory damages on only a per-call basis."
The Court additionally rejected the Plaintiff's request for
treble damages under Section 227(c)(5)(C), as the evidence
presented supported nothing more than a finding of negligence on
the part of the Defendant, and not a "knowing or willful
violation" required for treble damages under Section
227(c)(5)(C).
Noviello v. Adam Wines Consulting, LLC, No. 3:22-CV-52-BN,
2023 WL 2776696 (N.D. Tex. Apr. 4, 2023)
Kelley Drye Client Wins Motions for De-Certification of Class and Dismissal Based on Plaintiff's Lack of Standing
A Florida Appellate Court recently de-certified a class and
directed dismissal of a TCPA claim filed against Kelley Drye client
Pet Supermarket, Inc. The Plaintiff visited a Pet Supermarket
store where he voluntarily entered into a promotion in which a
customer could text the word "PETS" to a phone number and
be entered into a contest to win free dog food for a year.
Plaintiff then received a total of six text messages from
Defendant. Plaintiff filed a class action against Defendant,
originally in the Southern District of Florida. The Southern
District of Florida, pursuant to Salcedo v. Hanna (previously discussed here), dismissed the
complaint for lack of standing, holding that Plaintiff's
allegations of loss of privacy, wasted time, and intrusion upon
seclusion resulting from the receipt of the messages did not
constitute an injury in fact for Article III standing purposes.
Plaintiff then filed the same TCPA suit in Florida state court,
where the trial court found that Plaintiff had standing because he
"need only allege a violation of his statutory rights under
the TCPA." On appeal, the Florida Appellate Court
reversed.
The Court first noted that the Florida Supreme Court has adopted a
standing requirement that, while "not as constrained by the
'hard floor' of injury in fact imposed by Article
III," still requires Florida plaintiffs to allege an
"injury-in-fact," consisting of an "actual or
imminent injury that is concrete, distinct, and palpable."
Additionally, class representatives in Florida must
"illustrate that a case or controversy exists between him or
her and the defendant," requiring allegations of an
"actual or legal injury." Thus, Plaintiff must still
allege a "concrete harm or injury from the TCPA violation to
demonstrate his standing in a Florida state court."
Having determined that Plaintiff must allege an "actual
injury," the Court concluded that Plaintiff had failed to do
so. Rather, Plaintiff's allegations that the texts constituted
a "barrage of messages," and that the texts caused him to
"incur repeated aggravation by annoying him" were merely
"conclusory recitation of harms." Additionally, despite
Plaintiff's allegations that the texts "intruded upon his
seclusion," the Court held that Plaintiff must show that the
intrusion was "highly offensive to a reasonable person for the
harm to be comparable to injury suffered by an intrusion upon
seclusion under Florida common law." Plaintiff's receipt
of one text message, while at home, during the weekend,
"simply [did] not rise to the level of outrageousness required
for an invasion of privacy."
Because the Court determined that Plaintiff failed to allege a
concrete injury, it held that Plaintiff lacked standing, and
accordingly reversed the certification of Plaintiff's proposed
class and directed the lower court to dismiss the case.
Pet Supermarket, Inc. v. Eldridge, No. 3D21-1174, 2023 WL
3327267 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. May 10, 2023)
Florida Legislature Draws the Reigns on Mini-TCPA
On May 2, the Florida Senate approved House Bill 761, which significantly amends the Florida Telephone Solicitation Act ("FTSA"). The bill is designed to serve as a "clarification" to the 2021 amendments to the FTSA, which provided a private right of action with damages of damages of $500 to $1,500 per prohibited call or text message. Upon being signed by Governor Ron DeSantis, the amendment will limit liability and narrow the private cause of action under the statute. This includes:
- Amending the definition of an autodialer such that violations only occur where the automated system is used to both select and dial telephone numbers;
- Prohibiting only unsolicited calls;
- Expanding what constitutes express written consent, including checking a box or another act; and
- Creating a safe harbor of 15 days for a party to stop solicitations.
The amendment notably clarifies the standard for the key term 'autodialer,' which was unclear under the 2021 version of the FTSA. The bill also specifies that only unsolicited calls are prohibited, defining the term as "a telephonic sales call other than a call made...in response to an express request of the person called[.]" Next, it broadens the actions that constitute a 'signature' for prior express consent to receive calls and texts. Before this bill, the FTSA defined a "signature" as "an electronic or digital signature, to the extent that such form of signature is recognized as a valid signature under applicable federal law or state contract law." Once the bill is signed, checking a box for consent, or responding affirmatively to a text or email will now constitute express prior consent. Finally, the act creates a 15-day 'safe harbor' where a party seeking to bring a lawsuit for unsolicited text messages must first notify the solicitor by replying with an opt-out request, and give the solicitor 15 days to cease. If signed, the bill is likely to strongly impact the wave of class action lawsuits that followed the 2021 amendments to the FTSA. The law will take effect immediately upon the Governor's signature.
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