A District Court judge in Pennsylvania has awarded a plaintiff in a Telephone Consumer Protection Act case $12,000 in damages after ruling the defendant willfully made eight calls to the plaintiff after being informed on numerous occasions to stop calling and made no attempt to defend itself after being sued.
The Background: Over the course of two months in late 2019 and early 2020, the plaintiff received eight calls from the defendant. The plaintiff’s number had already been registered on the national Do Not Call registry and the plaintiff repeatedly requested the defendant stop calling him and add his number to their internal do not call list. The plaintiff even sent a registered letter to the defendant asking it to stop calling and sending text messages.
- The plaintiff originally filed this lawsuit in October 2020 and there was a lot of back and forth between then and now, including two amended complaints, a number of hearings and motions. It wasn’t until earlier this year that the plaintiff put everything together and filed a complaint that had everything Judge Karen Marston of the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania needed to issue a ruling.
The Ruling: Given that this case has been proceeding for nearly four years and the defendant has never once attempted to involve itself, Judge Marston ruled the plaintiff is entitled to a default judgment.
- The plaintiff was seeking treble damages under the TCPA, alleging the defendant willfully violated the statute in continuing to call him.
- Given his attempts to stop receiving calls from the defendant, the evidence supports the conclusion that the defendant was aware that the plaintiff did not consent to receiving the calls and that means the defendant willfully violated the TCPA, Judge Marston ruled.