Chicago Judge Grants Humana’s Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction

U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman for Northern Illinois in Chicago granted Humana’s motion to dismiss without prejudice plaintiff Antionette Woodward’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act putative class action for lack of personal jurisdiction (see 2304280006), said Coleman’s signed order Friday (docket 1:23-cv-00979). The judge gave Woodward 30 days to cure the deficiencies in her complaint, or the dismissal will be with prejudice, said the order. Woodward alleges that Humana is vicariously liable for the incessant insurance solicitation calls its third-party telemarketing vendor, Healthhubb, made on Humana’s behalf to a cellphone number she had listed on the national do not call registry since September 2022 (see 2302170038). But the judge found that Woodward has failed to make “a prima facie showing” that the court has personal jurisdiction over Humana, said the order. “The record is not ambiguous or unclear on the issue,” it said. Humana has submitted a declaration “unequivocally denying” any involvement with Healthubb’s actions, it said. Woodward had the opportunity to respond and submit affidavits of her own to provide the court with some evidence that Humana “is vicariously liable for the calls made to her by Healthubb,” it said. Yet Woodward has provided the court “with nothing more than her unsupported suspicion of Humana’s purported relationship with Healthubb,” based on an alleged call where Woodward was transferred to a Humana insurance agent, it said. Because Woodward “has provided nothing but her unsupported assertion of personal jurisdiction over Humana, her request for jurisdictional discovery is denied,” it said.