Charter Communications Faces TCPA Class Action Lawsuit in California
Charter Communications has been hit with yet another class action lawsuit in California after a San Bernardino resident accused the company of violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) by making automated robocalls to his phone without his consent or authorization. According to a Law360 news report, the plaintiff, Steve Gallion, alleges that he received a call on his cell phone from Spectrum Communications, which was placed using an automatic dialing machine. He claims he has never been a customer of the company and was therefore never in a position to give consent to receiving calls.
Several TCPA Violations Alleged
Gallion is seeking to represent a nationwide class of individuals who received calls from Charter that were placed using an automatic dialing machine where the recipient had not given his or her consent to get these calls in the four years before filing the complaint. Gallion says during the call, he was directed to stay on the line to hear about pricing promotions from a company representative. He alleged violation of privacy, charges or lost phone time.
In February, a San Diego resident alleged he got several unwanted robocalls from the company in spite of making requests for the calls to stop. In 2015, yet another California resident had accused the company of calling her a number of times using autodial to market its services. That lawsuit was settled in July 2016. In addition to these individual lawsuits, Charter is also fighting another lawsuit from the state of Missouri accusing the company of violating the TCPA by calling those who are on state and federal do-not-call registries.
Understanding the TCPA
The TCPA became law in 1991 as a response to an increasing number of consumer complaints over telemarketer and debt collector phone calls. This law essentially aims to protect consumers’ right to privacy and limits the practice of telemarketers and their use of automated dialing and pre-recorded voice messages with regard to residential phone lines, text messages and cell phones. It also prohibits telemarketers from calling those who are registered with do-not-call registries.
What Can You Do?
If you are receiving calls in violation of the TCPA, there are several steps you can take to document the violations including saving all phone records and making note of incoming calls from telemarketers. Consumers who get these unsolicited calls, texts or fax messages can recover up to $500 for each violation of the TCPA, up to $500 per phone call that violates the law and $1,500 per violation if you can show that the law was violated deliberately.
If you have been the victim of an aggressive, hostile or inappropriate phone call associated to telemarketing, call 1-800-561-4887 for a free case evaluation.