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On April 1, 2021, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its highly anticipated decision in the Facebook Inc. v. Duguid matter.  In a unanimous decision delivered by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the Supreme Court addressed a hotly debated issue of statutory construction regarding the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”), and reversed the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit’s decision holding that Facebook, Inc. (“Facebook”) used a text-message notification system that met the TCPA’s definition of an “autodialer.”  In short, the Court held that Facebook’s notification equipment did not meet the definition of an autodialer because it does not use a random or sequential number generator.  The Court rejected Plaintiff Noah Duguid’s more broad interpretation of the statute, noting that if an autodialer were any device that had the capacity to dial random numbers, the TCPA would encompass any equipment that stores and dials telephone numbers, such as a modern smartphone.
Continue Reading SCOTUS Issues Anticipated Decision in Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid And Unanimously Reverses Ninth Circuit, Holding Facebook’s Text Notification System Did Not Meet the TCPA’s Definition of An Autodialer Because It Did Not Use A Random Or Sequential Number Generator

The Second Circuit of United States Court of Appeals in Duran v. La boom Disco, Inc. (“Duran”), broke from the majority position from the Third, Seventh, and Eleventh Circuits and found that a dialing system that called from a stored list of numbers qualified as an automatic telephone dialing system (“ATDS”) under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”). In doing so, the Second Circuit joins the Ninth Circuit in adopting a broad interpretation of what constitutes as an ATDS.
Continue Reading The Second Circuit adds to the Appellate split on the Definition of an ATDS under the TCPA

On Friday, March 16, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued its long-awaited ruling in ACA International et al. v. FCC (see attached). The petition before the court challenged aspects of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) Omnibus Declaratory Ruling and Order issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)…

In an important decision for the collection industry, the court in Michel v. Credit Protection Ass’n L.P., No. 14-cv-8452, 2017 WL 3620809 (N.D. Ill. Aug. 23, 2017), refused to find a debt collection company liable under the TCPA for cell phone calls made on behalf of one creditor (ComEd) when the plaintiff’s oral revocation of consent related to a different creditor (Comcast).  The Michel court reasoned that obtaining consent under the TCPA is creditor-specific and so revocation should be creditor-specific as well.
Continue Reading Debt Collector Not Liable Under the TCPA for Post-Revocation Calls Made On Behalf of a Different Creditor

In a watershed ruling for businesses facing the recent onslaught of Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) claims, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals held that consumers cannot revoke their consent to receive automated or prerecorded cell phone calls if they previously consented to receive those calls as part of a binding contract. See Reyes v.

On Friday, in a decision certain to please the business community as well as the Chair and new majority of the Federal Communications Committee, the D.C. Circuit struck down parts of the FCC’s October 30, 2014 Order, 29 F.C.C. Rcd. 13998 (FCC 14-164), requiring that solicited faxes (those sent with consent of the recipient) must…

Federal Communications Commission announced new rules on Thursday that imposes limitations on private collection agencies and servicers seeking to collect on behalf of federal debts.  While the TCPA places limitations around many autodialed calls, it provides an exception to liability for federal debt collection calls, such for as some mortgages and student loans.   Under the…

In a 6-3 decision issued today, the Supreme Court ruled that defendants cannot rely on a strategic offer of judgment to the named plaintiff to moot the claims of the putative class.

After an unfavorable Ninth Circuit decision, U.S. Navy contractor Campbell-Ewald asked the high court to consider, inter alia, whether defendants can strategically…

A recent opinion from the Southern District of California suggests that now there is no bright-line rule regarding what qualifies as human intervention for purposes of determining whether an autodialer was used. In denying a motion for summary judgment filed by Yahoo, the court found that:

“there are genuine issues of fact as to whether

…

On Thursday, October 29, 2015, the Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment of a proposed class action accusing PayPal of violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by sending users unsolicited text messages, following a hearing in which a judge said the claims were among the “silliest” he’s encountered. Opinion is available here: Roberts v. Paypal.

Plaintiff…