STAPLES LOSES, TROUTMAN WINS: Troutman Amin, LLP Delivers Huge SMS Win in Florida While Staples’ Loss Cedes Away Eastern Seaboard

2 Comments

More news on the harrowing SMS TCPA landscape.

Troutman Amin, LLP landed  huge victory for a client in the Middle District of Florida last week– convincing a court to dismiss a suit at the pleadings stage on the grounds SMS messages are not subject to the TCPA’s DNC rules.

This was obviously a huge win–brought to you by the Dame (Tori) and Blake– and it stands in marked contrast with a huge LOSS on this same issue on just about the same day by Staples and their counsel.

In Rubin v. Staples, Inc. 2026 WL 881651 (D. N.J. March 31, 2026) the court had little trouble rejecting Staples’ arguments to the effect SMS messages are not calls:

The plain meaning of “telephone call” in 1991 was “a communication made by telephone” without distinction between an oral or vocal communication as the first text message was not sent until 1992. Wilson, WL 3493815, at *5. “[A]lthough modern parlance tends to distinguish between phone calls and text messages, the meaning of ‘telephone call’ in 1991—when the TCPA was enacted—was broad enough to encompass text messages.” Id.

Hmm.

Well in James v. Smarter Contact— the case Troutman Amin, LLP handled– the court found precisely the opposite on this exact issue and granted judgment IN FAVOR of our client.

For now we have a new updated map to share with everyone and we will continue to break down these developments both here on TCPAWorld and also on stage at Law Conference of Champions next month!

The SMS panel will include big names like Kalviyo’s Cody DeCamp, Progressive’s Rich Jablonski, and others!

Chat soon.

 

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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.

2 Comments

  1. So much for REACH (Responsible Enterprises Against Consumer Harassment) eh?!

    Bragging about “…convincing a court to dismiss a suit at the pleadings stage on the grounds SMS messages are not subject to the TCPA’s DNC rules. This was obviously a huge win…”

    Thank god simple basic common sense prevailed in Rubin v. Staples, Inc!!!

    19.2 billion spam texts in March 2026, that’s 642,081,582 robotexts per day!!!!!!!!! Which will continue unabated thanks to your efforts. THIS will be Troutman Amin’s legacy!!

    https://www.robokiller.com/spam-text-insights

    Reply

  2. OK so those that know me, and any one that has read my comments here are aware I include links to credible source material for my claims. Especially in the current environment where AI has permeated and infected many/most searches (if I could post screen shots you’d be amazed – or maybe not).

    That said, when I posted the above statement “19.2 billion spam texts in March 2026…” The Robokiller page actually had that stat but the headline showed 2023 blah, blah, blah…

    Then trying to find accurate, credible (key word credible) stats in most cases were sites just rehashing the same or incorrectly dated versions of the same 19.2B – yikes!!

    So as the persistent, pugnacious SOB that I am, I couldn’t let it rest – hey I posted what could be seen as an inaccurate source. The only thing to do is call out/on Robokiller!

    My 1st email to support: “Please see attached s/shot & link – re: robotext stats page – the headline says 2023!?!?!?! But you quote 2026 @ 19.2 billion!?”

    Not even expecting a reply – I get this:
    “Hello, Thanks for reaching out. I appreciate your feedback, as my team is always striving to improve our product. You’re most welcome to share any further suggestions or opinions with us—we listen to our users’ opinions very carefully to guide our projects. Please let me know if I can help you with anything else. Have a nice day!”

    Wait, what?!?! Share further suggestions!?!?! The canned response wasn’t a surprise, didn’t address my concerns – or get the page amended…

    So my email #2:
    “Thanks for the prompt reply. However, the web page still shows both 2023 AND 2026 for the same stats – should be a simple fix and I would think you folks would want to display current stats vs 3 years old and conflicting – hope to see the page amended soon!! Thanks!”

    Their reply at 2:42 am this morning: “Hello, Thank you for your response. We appreciate the time you took to contact us and again for bring this to our attention. I can assure you that your feedback does not go unnoticed, and has been forwarded to the relevant team.
    Have a great day!”

    So when I clicked the same link above it redirected to the Robokiller home page (say what!?) so I scrolled down the page…about 90% of the way – almost at the bottom it offers links to various ‘reports’ including (wait for it) “U.S. Robotext Insights” which has amended details to show it was actually December 2023 with 19.2 Billion (not the March 2026 previously claimed).

    https://www.robokiller.com/spam-text-insights

    I now feel redeemed in that they actually clarified the stats per my request (woo, whoo!) but buried them at the bottom – and even more concerning is where are the 2024, and 2025 Insight reports?

    Guess that’s my next mission…stay tuned 😉

    Reply

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