So a while back a guy named Jeff Lohman–who specialized in filing TCPA class action lawsuits against student loan borrowers– was sued in a RICO class action and alleged of setting up lawsuits and filing frivolous claims.
He ended up winning on appeal– but not until after a jury initially found him liable!
He ended up leaving the practice of law and opening a billiard hall– no joke–as he explained on Deserve to Win podcast Ep 17.
Well a company called Specialty Medical Equipment may be hoping to deliver the same knock out blow to TCPA-litigant Mark Dobronski.
Now Dobronski is perhaps most famous for cleaning SelectQuote’s clock and bringing Caller ID claims to TCPAWorld denizens foolish enough to hire #biglaw to defend them.
So he’s had some success out there, but the court in Specialty Medical Equipment v. Dobronski, 2026 WL 540262 (E.D. Mich/ Feb. 26, 2026) refused to dismiss him from a suit claiming he had set up lawsuits.
In SME, the plaintiff claimed Dobronski has “evolved his claim-seeking scheme” by adopting false names and identities for the purpose of encouraging call-backs from businesses to telephone numbers that Dobronski has registered under the National “Do Not Call” Registry. Dobronski then pursues TCPA claims against those companies.
Allegedly Dobronski, using an alias, called Specialty Medical and the call was routed to a call center. Id. Specialty Medical alleges that Dobronski provided it with a false name and with a false Medicare identification number. He “spun an entirely false narrative that he was a legitimate patient in need of diabetes and sleep apnea supplies.” This false narrative, Specialty Medical alleges, was so convincing and thorough in its details, that Specialty Medical’s staff did not doubt the legitimacy of the call.
The allegation continue:
On February 3, 2025, Dobronski, using an alias, called Specialty Medical and the call was routed to a call center. Specialty Medical alleges that Dobronski provided it with a false name and with a false Medicare identification number. He “spun an entirely false narrative that he was a legitimate patient in need of diabetes and sleep apnea supplies.” This false narrative, Specialty Medical alleges, was so convincing and thorough in its details, that Specialty Medical’s staff did not doubt the legitimacy of the call.
.
During that call, Dobronski requested that Specialty Medical provide him with DME. He invited Specialty Medical to communicate with him via telephone and provided a real Michigan-based call-back number. He also provided Specialty Medical with a real street address in Dexter, Michigan for a property that Dobronski and his wife own. He gave Specialty Medical the name of a physician who was ostensibly his treating doctor.
The following day, on February 4, 2025, Dobronski called Specialty Medical again and verified the false information for his
alias. The Specialty Medical representative who took the call told Dobronski that he needed an updated prescription
for certain supplies. Soon thereafter, Specialty Medical discovered that Dobronski had provided it with a false Medicare identification number.
Specialty Medical called the call-back number that Dobronski had provided to “clarify this issue and issues related to physician orders.” It left messages for Dobronski’s alias at that Michigan based number. Dobronski called Specialty Medical back from a new Florida-based phone number owned by Safe Train, LLC.
Dobronski revealed his true identity and informed Specialty Medical that the Michigan-based call-back number it used on February 4 was registered on the Do Not Call Registry. Specialty Medical alleges that “the voice on this subsequent call was the same as that in the initial calls in which the Alias was provided by Mr. Dobronski, while previously posing as the Fake Patient.”
Specialty Medical alleges that Dobronski’s conduct was “a deliberate and malicious fraud,” in which he “pose[d] as a patient” and “intended to trick” Specialty Medical into calling him back for Dobronski’s personal gain. Specialty Medical seeks to hold Dobronski responsible for its time, resources, and costs wasted, as well as punitive damages and injunctive relief to prevent Dobronski “from engaging in such fraudulent schemes in the future.”
Wow. That’s quite the scam– if true.
And at the pleadings stage the Court must accept the allegations as true– so Dobronski’s motion to dismiss was denied.
First, the court found the allegations sufficiently set forth fraud claim. Reliance was limited but reasonable and representations made were plainly false.
Second, as to RICO SME argued because Dobronski worked together with his wife and used assets of his LLC he formed an “enterprise” that conspired to engage in wire fraud. The court also found the predicate act of wire fraud was properly alleged given Dobronski’s many lies and the Plaintiff’s alleged reliance on those lies.
Last, Dobronski argued his actions were protected by the first amendment as he has the right to petition the courts for redress. However the Court focused on allegations his TCPA litigation is not “merely to seek redress under the TCPA,” but rather, “to invite those calls under false pretenses and later claim that he was not the one making the invitation..” Specialty Medical’s allegations here—that Dobronski used a false name, provided false medical information, and engaged in a scheme to defraud— are sufficient to overcome any possible application of Noerr-Pennington.”
Yikes.
So Dobronski may be in a lot of trouble here.
I think the court was particularly pissed Dobronski was given false identifiers– most courts will overlook a consumer pretending to be interested in a product to figure out who was calling them, but providing fake names and ID numbers is a horse of a different color.
Those of you facing trumped up TCPA litigation should keep this case close at hand. I expect Troutman Amin, LLP will continue raising arguments such as these to put an end to frivolous TCPA class actions.
If YOU’D like the most cutting edge update on TCPA litigation available be sure to request a copy of the 2026 Troutman Amin, LLP TCPA Annual Review, presented by Contact Center Compliance!
Chat soon.
.
Discover more from TCPAWorld
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.