Robocaller to pay $1.8 million

Courts Autodialer Class Action Settlement TCPA Soundboard

On June 29, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma granted final approval to a $1.75 million class action settlement involving a now-bankrupt, marketing company hired to place pre-recorded robocalls on behalf of a home security company without receiving consumers’ prior written express consent, in alleged violation of the TCPA. According to the motion for final approval of class settlement, the lead plaintiff alleged, among other things, that the marketing company was directly liable for calls advertising home security services placed using an automated soundboard system, and that the home security company was vicariously liable for hiring the marketing company to place the calls. In this case, the court decided in summary judgment that the soundboard technology used to place the calls at issue (“rather than traditional unattended prerecorded messages”) was regulated by the TCPA, an issue that the plaintiff believes to be of first impression. The settlement agreement also enjoins the company “from initiating any telephone call to any telephone line that delivers a prerecorded message and/or using soundboard technology to deliver a prerecorded message where the principal purpose of the telephone call is advertising or marketing, unless the called party has provided prior express written consent to receive such calls.” Additionally, as noted in the motion, the court previously granted final approval to a $1.85 million class wide settlement with the alarm company last November.