Here’s another big one folks.
One company buys another company and then sends marketing messages to the form company’s customers.
Seems ok, right?
Nope and Lincare just found that out the hard way.
In Morris v. Lincare, Inc. 2025 WL 605616 (M.D. Fl. Feb. 25, 2025) a court certified a TCPA class action involving Lincare’s prerecorded messages to consumers who had consented to receive contact from a predecessor company.
In Morris the class members had all signed express written consent agreements with American HomePatient, Inc. However Lincare apparently purchased the company and absorbed it various assets–including its contact list.
Lincare began sending prerecored messages to the Plaintiff after the transition took place and Plaintiff sued arguing it had consented to calls from API, but not from Lincare.
While the Court in Morris did not answer the ultimate substantive question of whether or not the consent was valid it did certify the case as a class action finding that the issue of consent–amongst others–was common across the entire class. As such the court certified the case as a class action.
The result is that Lincare must now face suit over calls made to over 1,800 people and faces millions in potential damages– for doing nothing more than calling people that had consented to receive calls from a company it purchased.
This is an important case for folks considering as part of due diligence for an asset purchase or company acquisition. Troutman Amin, LLP commonly gets brought in a part of diligence reviews for mergers and acquisitions where TCPA issues are apparent. But many M&A teams completely miss TCPA risk– as Morris really highlights the need to pay attention to these issues and to understand the limits on using consent forms naming different entities.
Tired of #biglaw firms billing you like crazy and then trying to get you to settle TCPA class actions for millions? Maybe give Troutman Amin, LLP a look. For the month of March only we will match their rates! Check it out.
Chat soon.
: All persons within the United States whose cellular telephone number was provided to Defendant by American
HomePatient, Inc., and who, within the four years prior to the filing of this lawsuit, received one or more prerecorded voice
calls, on their cellular telephone, requesting a return call to Defendant.
FTSA Class
: All persons with a Florida area code telephone number, whose cellular telephone number was provided to
Defendant by American HomePatient, Inc., and who, since July 1, 2021 through the filing of this lawsuit, received one or
more prerecorded calls, on their cellular telephone, requesting a return call to Defendant.