CONFIDENTIAL?: AmEx Compels Individual TCPA Suit to Arbitration And I am Intrigued

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Arbitration provisions can by a TCPA defendant’s best friend, but usually that’s to avoid class litigation.

While a TCPA suit can–and very often is–be filed as a class action in court such cases are not permitted under most arbitration provisions. That means if a defendant can successfully compel arbitration it may take a billion dollar exposure case and take it down to $500.00.  Not a bad day in court.

But there are other reasons to seek arbitration where available, even in an individual suit as AmEx just demonstrated.

In Adler v. American Express Co., 2025 WL 904462 (N.D. Oh. March 25, 2025)  AmEx compelled an individual TCPA claim to arbitration.

The background facts here are interesting. Plaintiff claims AmEx was mistakenly calling him repeatedly–say, 15 times a month– for years with prerecorded calls related to a debt he didn’t owe.

If these allegations are true Plaintiff seemingly has a six figure case against AmEx ($500.00 is the MINIMUM liability for such errant robocalls to a cellular phone) but the good news for AmEx is that the suit was brought on an individual basis.

Despite the individual nature of the suit AmEx asked the court to compel arbitration. Plaintiff opposed arguing the calls at issue were not related to HIS account but the Court determined that did not matter– any dispute between the parties had to go to arbitration. And since Plaintiff was a cardholder who had accepted the arbitration provision by using the card he was a party stuck bringing suit in arbitration only.

So this was a fine win by AmEx but only because it will make it harder for everyone to find out what happened in the lawsuit. Everything that happens in federal court is public, but arbitrations are private proceedings. So we may never know what happened with Mr. Adler.

Folks facing TCPA trouble should ALWAYS think about compelling arbitration– and anyone in the lead gen space should be leveraging these provisions as part of every form.

And I know everyone is focused on LCOC III but Queenie and I will be speaking THIS MONTH in Washington DC at the big DNC.com DC Summit! Get your tickets now!

Chat soon.

https://www.ticketsignup.io/TicketEvent/DCSummit?rsus=500-400-7e895ac9-b561-43ab-a6a9-6fa20a37fa09

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Published by Eric "Czar" 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.

1 Comment

  1. Then, again, the arbitration could go badly for AmEx, and they will then drag the matter back into court. Face it, the plaintiff (not AmEx) is a victim either way. AmEx wrongfully called the guy repeatedly. And, now, AmEx is trying to skate from its liability. Yet, were the guy to fail to pay his credit card in time, AmEx would haul him into court in a New York minute. American Express — Don’t Leave Home Without It!

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