Judge Partially Grants DirecTV’s Motion to Strike in Telemarketer Impersonation Case

U.S. Magistrate Judge John Love for Eastern Texas in Tyler signed an order Thursday (docket 6:22-cv-00423) granting in part and denying in part DirecTV’s Feb. 20 motion to strike the six affirmative defenses of the defendants it alleges ran a scheme to defraud consumers by impersonating DirecTV telemarketers. DirecTV contended the six affirmative defenses are improper because they're conclusory or they fail to allege all the elements necessary for supporting the defense. It also asserted several of the six defenses allege only defects in DirecTV’s prima facie case, and many fail to address the specific claim to which the defense applies. Love denied DirecTV’s motion to strike three of the six defenses and granted its motion to strike the rest. Any party may file a written objection within 14 days to Love’s finding, said his order. A party’s failure to file written objections to the findings “shall bar that party from de novo review by the district judge of those findings,” and “from appellate review of unobjected-to factual findings and legal conclusions accepted and adopted by the district court,” it said.