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Dell Loses TCPA Lawsuit

Michael Agruss

Written and Reviewed by Michael Agruss

  • Managing Partner and Personal Injury Lawyer at Mike Agruss Law.
  • Over 20 years of experience in Personal Injury.
  • Over 8000+ consumer rights cases settled.
  • Graduated from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law: Juris Doctor, 2004.

Dell Loses TCPA Lawsuit

A U.S. appeals court has decided that people have a right under a federal law to revoke their consent to being contacted on their cell phones by automated dialing systems. The ruling is a defeat for Dell Inc., which was fighting a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) lawsuit.The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia reversed a lower court ruling and ruled in favor of a Pennsylvania woman who received more than 40 calls from Dell in less than three weeks, after she had sent the company a letter asking it to stop. Gager had defaulted on a Dell credit line, which she used to purchase thousands of dollars of computer equipment; Dell started leaving her messages on her cell phone from an automated dialing system, and continued calling after receiving a cease and desist letter from her in December 2010.The TCPA, enacted in 1991, was intended to protect consumers from unwanted automated calls, said Circuit Judge Jane Roth, and she pointed out this conclusion is supported by a 2012 Federal Communications Commission ruling in an unrelated case.Judge Roth rejected Dell’s argument that since the law didn’t address whether consumers may revoke consent to be contacted by an autodialing system, the right to revoke did not exist. “We find that the TCPA provides consumers with the right to revoke their prior express consent to be contacted on cellular phones by autodialing systems,” Roth wrote for a unanimous three-judge panel. “Because the TCPA is a remedial statute, it should be construed to benefit consumers.”The TCPA restricts telephone solicitations, the use of automated telephone equipment, and unsolicited advertisements. Specifically, the TCPA limits the use of automatic dialing systems, prerecorded voice messages, unsolicited text messages, and junk faxes. So, what should you do when you get a robocall or an unsolicited text message? Hang up the phone. Do not press 1 or any other numbers to get off the list. Then, contact Mike Agruss Law, for a free consultation. The Federal Trade Commission has stopped billions, yes billions, of robocalls in the last two years. Mike Agruss Law, will do the same for you. We will aggressively enforce the law to stop robocalls and unsolicited text message. Not only will we stop the calls and text messages, but you may be entitled to money damages, too. Damages in TCPA cases range from $500.00 – $1,500.00 per call or text. 

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