PAIN IN THE NECK: Perrong Loses Default Bid Against Charlie For Governor–but He Apparently Deposed Charles Gerow And that’s Annoying

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Andrew Perrong is an interesting guy.

WATCH NOW: “You’ll Be Seeing a Lot of Me”– Andrew Perrong Makes Splashy Entrance With HUGE Interview on Deserve to Win Episode 19

So a political strategist named Charlie Gerow  was apparently recruited by some Congressman named G.T. Thompson to run for the governor of Pennsylvania a while back.

The campaign–called “Charlie for Governor”–apparently sent prerecorded political message calls to some phone numbers. Andrew Perrong allegedly received a couple of those calls.

Perrong filed suit under the TCPA against “Charlie for Governor” but also against Charlie Gerow personally, as well as someone named Marguerite Luksik in connection with the calls.

It gets better.

After seeking default on the two calls–we’re talking liability of $3k here–against “Charlie for Governor” he turned around and deposed Gerow. That’s right. Perrong took the deposition of the former governor candidate because of the receipt of two calls from his campaign.

What a pain.

For the curious you can read the entire transcript here: Deposition Transcript

In the end though Gerow was able to obtain summary judgment on the claim because he testified he had no idea who made the calls and he had no role in them. So the court entered judgment against perrong on the claim against Gerow personally and also re-opened the case to the campaign itself.

Really fascinating suit here.

Take aways–beyond what a pain Perrong is–are pretty clear. Candidates running for office need to be very cautious in terms of the technology being used to send messages. Illegal calls can get YOU sued personally.

And even if you beat the lawsuit you may end up having to sit through a painful deposition to clear your name. Terrible.

Unrelated, have you checked out this weird hypnotic video Pesach made?:

Chat soon.

Case is:

2024 WL 919837
Only the Westlaw citation is currently available.
United States District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania.
ANDREW R. PERRONG, Plaintiff,
v.
CHARLIE FOR GOVERNOR, et al., Defendants.
CIVIL ACTION NO. 2:22-cv-4013-MRP
|
Filed 03/04/2024

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Published by Eric J. Troutman

The Czar of TCPAWorld Eric Troutman is one of the country’s prominent class action defense lawyers and is nationally recognized in Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) litigation and compliance. He has served as lead defense counsel in more than 70 national TCPA class actions and has litigated nearly a thousand individual TCPA cases in his role as national strategic litigation counsel for major banks and finance companies. He also helps industry participants build TCPA-compliant processes, policies, and systems. Eric has built a national litigation practice based upon deep experience, rigorous analysis and extraordinary responsiveness. Eric and his team feel equally at home litigating multibillion dollar telecommunications class actions in federal court as they do developing and executing national litigation strategies for institutions facing an onslaught of individual TCPA matters. They thrive in each of these roles – delivering consistently excellent results – while never losing sight of the client experience. While many firms now tout TCPA expertise, Eric has been there from the beginning. He built one of the country’s first TCPA-only defense teams and began serving as national TCPA counsel for his clients nearly a decade ago. This perspective allows him to swiftly develop the right litigation strategies for dealing with recurring problems, without wasting time on tactics that are bound to fail. Eric’s rich historical perspective and encyclopedic knowledge of the TCPA landscape also make him an invaluable resource to institutional compliance teams struggling to comply with the shifting regulatory landscape. No task is too small – or too big. Indeed, Eric and his team have helped build TCPA-compliant systems and processes for some of the largest and most complex corporate entities in the country. He commonly works with in-house compliance counsel to build and implement enterprise and business-line specific TCPA solutions, performs TCPA audits and drafts and reviews proposed TCPA policies and procedures. He and his team also have the technical expertise necessary to assist call centers seeking to develop TCPA-resistant call path architecture or to modify existing telephony and software integration to better insulate from potential TCPA exposure. Eric has built a reputation for thought leadership. An avid blogger and speaker, he has been at the forefront of the industry’s effort to push for clarity and a return to sanity for the TCPA for years. He was selected to advocate for the financial services industry on important TCPA issues before the Federal Communications Commission and co-authored the nation’s only comprehensive practice guide on TCPA defense. In his spare time, Eric leads defense teams representing banks and other financial services companies in consumer finance litigation matters. He has experience representing clients in UCC, TILA, RESPA FCRA, CCRA, CLRA, FDCPA, RFDCPA and FCCPA claims, as well as in fraud and bank operations issues.

2 Comments

  2. Having to sit for a deposition is “annoying” and “a pain in the neck”? You know what else is annoying and a pain in the neck… Getting unsolicited robocalls for every obscure political candidate who finishes in 8TH PLACE in his party’s primary with 1.3% of the vote. Glad we have guys like Perrong who fight the battles for those of us who aren’t as motivated.

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