OH NO: Teleflora Just Agreed to Pay $6MM to Settle a TCPA SMS DNC Class at $251.00 a Person and What Are People Thinking???

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Law Conference of Champions Ticket Prices as I Type: $349.00 (and rising)

I suppose it is not technically malpractice to settle a nearly valueless claim for millions of dollars… but it is pretty dang close.

Teleflora just agreed to pay $6,000,000.00– an INSANE $251.00 per class member– to settle a TCPA DNC SMS case.

Here is the class definition:

[All] persons throughout the United States (1) who did not provide their telephone number to Teleflora LLC, (2) to whom Teleflora LLC delivered, or caused to be delivered, more than one text message within a 12-month period, promoting Teleflora LLC goods or services, (3) where the person’s residential or cellular telephone number had been registered with the National Do Not Call Registry for at least thirty days before Teleflora LLC delivered, or caused to be delivered, at least two text messages within the 12-month period.

For purposes of settlement the parties estimate the class consists of approximately 23,844 telephone numbers.

Yep, $251.00 per class member.

Now let’s discuss why this settlement was a bad idea:

  1. A federal court IN THIS DISTRICT just held SMS are not subject to the TCPA’s DNC rules;
  2. Another federal court IN THIS DISTRICT just held cell phones are not covered by the DNC rules;
  3. Another court IN THE SAME STATE just held there is no private right of action under the TCPA’s DNC rules at all;
  4. Even if there was a private right of action damages are only “up to” $500.00 under 227(c)– and Teleflora agreed to pay half of the full amount to each class member which is way above market for a settlement of this sort; and
  5. Even if there was a private right of action there is also a complete defense if Teleflora has a written policy and DNC training (which I assume it must).

So yea, this is kind of a terrible resolution but its not technically malpractice because the 11th Circuit hasn’t ruled on the DNC issue yet so there is still some risk here (unlike the insane O’Reilly auto parts settlement in the 7th Circuit)– but paying $6,000,000 at $251.00 a class member is still criminally dumb.

Anyhoo, to make a claim or learn more visit the settlement website here: https://www.tfsettlement.com/

And if you’d like to AVOID overpaying MASSIVELY to resolve TCPA class action suits be sure to retain the lawyers at Troutman Amin, LLP who actually understand the TCPA, the settlement market for these cases and the status of case law that might result in lower spend on resolutions.

And also be sure to attend Law Conference of Champions V next July. We will be giving you the absolute LATEST on TCPA, CEMA, CIPA, ECPA, VPPA, AI regs, and whatever else is HOT in telecom, data and privacy at the time. Ticket prices rise daily!

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.

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