Thomas Gebka seeks an order compelling State Farm to produce in class discovery, without redactions, all records and notes for all calls that State Farm or any State Farm agency made from Oct. 10, 2018, to the present, said the plaintiff’s motion to compel Monday (docket 1:22-cv-05546) in U.S. District Court for Northern Illinois in Chicago.
American Eagle Outfitters has been “bombarding” Megan Tarantino since at least December with telemarketing text messages to her cellphone number, alleged Tarantino’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action Friday (docket 3:24-cv-00139) in U.S. District Court for Southern Texas in Galveston. The retailer’s unlawful conduct sparked the plaintiff to list her cellphone number with the national do not call registry on Jan. 11, “in an attempt to prevent further unsolicited text messages” from American Eagle, her complaint said. American Eagle continued sending unsolicited text messages to the Galveston County resident's number, it said, including the incessant text messages she received throughout March and April, it said. American Eagle’s unsolicited text messages caused Tarantino “actual harm,” including the invasion of her privacy, aggravation, annoyance, intrusion on seclusion, trespass, and conversion, said her class action. The text messages also inconvenienced her and caused “disruption to her daily life,” it said. She seeks actual and statutory damages for herself and each member of the class, plus injunctive relief requiring the defendant “to cease all unsolicited text messaging activity,” and to otherwise protect the interests of the class, it said.
Fastwyre Broadband violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by making telemarketing calls and sending text messages to Cathie Veres and other putative class members after they requested to no longer receive such communications, Veres’ class action alleged Thursday (docket 2:24-cv-00157) in U.S. District Court for Southern Alabama in Selma. Veres did not consent to receive telemarketing calls from Fastwyre, the complaint said. The plaintiff was never a Fastwyre customer, though during fall 2023 she considered using its services, it said. Soon thereafter, she began receiving the company's telemarketing calls and text messages, it said. Between fall 2023 and May 13, when the last call arrived, Veres received more than 200 Fastwyre telemarketing calls and text messages, her complaint states. Veres sent the company multiple messages demanding that the communications cease, but to no avail, it said.
Global Tel-Link charged incarcerated and nonincarcerated persons rates in excess of the contract rates for certain electronic communication services in West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation (WVDCR) facilities, alleged a fraud class action Thursday (docket 1:24-cv-00827) in U.S. District Court for Eastern Virginia in Alexandria.
The Philadelphia Inquirer’s April 29 notice letter about a May 2023 data breach includes three pages devoted to steps victims can take to help protect their personally identifiable information (PII), said a class action (docket 2:24-cv-02106) Thursday in U.S. District Court for Eastern Philadelphia. Steps included enrolling in credit monitoring services the defendant is offering victims, it said.
Big Sandy Superstore, a furniture business in Lancaster, Ohio, engages in unsolicited text messaging to promote its goods and services to consumers who have listed their phone numbers on the national do not call registry, alleged Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action Wednesday (docket 1:24-cv-00282) in U.S. District Court for Southern Ohio. Marissa Porter of Polk County, Florida, seeks injunctive relief to halt Big Sandy’s unlawful TCPA conduct, “which has resulted in intrusion into the peace and quiet in a realm that is private and personal” to her and the class members, said her complaint. Porter also seeks statutory damages on behalf of herself and members of the class, plus “any other available legal or equitable remedies,” it said. The plaintiff alleges that Big Sandy sent at least four text-message solicitations to her residential cellphone between June 5 and Feb. 13, though her number has been continuously listed on the national DNC registry since August 2008, said her complaint. Upon information and belief, Big Sandy maintains access to outbound transmission reports for all text messages sent to consumers advertising or promoting its services and goods, it said. These reports show the dates, times, target phone numbers and content of each message sent to Porter and the class members, it said. The plaintiff “has never had any type of business relationship” with Big Sandy, it said. She also never signed “any type of authorization” permitting or allowing Big Sandy to send her text-message solicitations, it said.
Plaintiff Lee Thompson seeks to recover “compensable damages” caused by Luna Innovations’ violations of the Securities Exchange Act on behalf of himself and others who owned Luna stock between May 2022 and April 19, said his securities fraud class action Wednesday (docket 2:24-cv-04068) in U.S. District Court for Central California in Los Angeles. Thompson alleges that the fiber-optic company, former CEO Scott Graeff and former Chief Financial Officers Eugene Nestro and George Gomez-Quintero made “materially false and misleading statements” about the company’s performance during the class period. The financial statements that Luna and its top executives issued for the first three quarters of 2022 and for Q1 of 2023 failed to disclose that they contained “unearned revenues that should not have been recognized,” and that the company would need to restate those financial statements, said the complaint. The reports also failed to mention that Luna’s disclosure controls and procedures didn’t provide “reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles,” it said. The statements also omitted mention that Luna’s disclosure controls and procedures weren’t effective, and that as a result, the company’s statements about its business, operations, and prospects “were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all times,” it said. The truth began to emerge March 12, after the markets closed, when Luna filed an 8-K with the SEC announcing that it would need to restate its financial statements for the second and third quarters of 2023 because the company “improperly recognized” revenue during those periods, the complaint said. The same day, Luna also filed notice that its annual 10-K report would be delayed so that a special committee of its board could investigate the circumstances under which the faulty quarterly financial statements were released to the investing public in the first place, it said. The notice of the late 10-K disclosed that the company anticipated reporting “material weaknesses in internal controls related to evaluating customer arrangements for proper revenue recognition and other controls,” and that the company would be “working to remediate these issues.” The news sent Luna shares plummeting nearly 36% the next trading day, March 13, said the complaint. Then on March 25, after the markets closed, Luna filed another 8-K with the SEC disclosing that CEO Graeff had retired, effective immediately, said the complaint. Upon information and belief, it said, defendant Graeff “retired as a result of the misconduct detailed in this complaint.” In early May came the termination, for cause, of Chief Technology Officer Brian Soller and the resignation of CFO Gomez-Quintero, it said. Luna also disclosed that CEO Graeff’s misconduct had triggered clawback provisions in his separation agreement, including the cancellation of all future severance payments, it said.
Southern Industries Home Improvements violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by contacting numbers listed on the national do not call registry and by phoning individuals multiple times after they requested to no longer receive those calls, alleged plaintiff Alfredo Certeza’s class action Tuesday (docket 2:24-cv-03020) in U.S. District Court for South Carolina in Charleston. Southern Industries also violated the South Carolina Telephone Privacy Protection Act, which prohibits a company from making a call to a South Carolina phone number listed on the DNC registry, as Certeza’s was since 2009, alleged his complaint. Certeza alleges receiving “dozens” of calls from Southern Industries, despite never having provided his prior express written consent to receive them, it said. Certeza wrote the company Dec. 8, demanding that the calls cease, it said. But he nevertheless received more than 40 calls from the defendant between Jan. 1 and Feb. 23, all made to pitch Certeza on new siding for his home, said the complaint.
Aflac seeks the dismissal of Stewart Smith’s second amended Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action for failure to state a claim, said the insurer’s memorandum of law Tuesday (docket 2:24-cv-00679) in U.S. District Court for Eastern Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in support of its motion to dismiss. Smith originally alleged that Aflac violated the TCPA by placing a single telemarketing robocall to his cellphone, despite his number having been listed on the national do not call registry since June 2010 (see 2402160002). Aflac filed a motion April 8 to dismiss Smith’s first amended complaint for failure to state a claim (see 2404090028), said the memorandum. The plaintiff didn’t respond to that motion, but instead, nine days after the deadline to respond had elapsed, he filed a second amended complaint “in an apparent attempt to cure the deficiencies” that Aflac identified in the first amended complaint, it said. But the second amended complaint “sets forth only a few new allegations, most of which are generalized and non-specific,” it said. For largely the same reasons set forth in Aflac’s prior motion to dismiss, the court should dismiss Smith’s second amended complaint with prejudice, it said. Though the plaintiff now alleges that he received more than one call, he still doesn’t allege facts to support his “conclusory assertion” that Aflac itself or someone acting on Aflac’s behalf placed those calls, said the memorandum. His entire theory of liability against Aflac rests on the “single, conclusory allegation” that Aflac placed the calls because an automated message would play indicating the call was from Aflac or that a live caller would tell Smith that the call was from Aflac, it said. But Smith doesn’t allege “any details whatsoever about these calls to support the notion that Aflac was responsible,” it said. For example, he doesn’t identify the number that called him, describe how the live caller identified himself or herself, detail what was said during the live calls or during the prerecorded message, or provide any other facts that could identify Aflac as the caller, it said. Nor does Smith explain how any of the purported calls “were dispositioned,” that he identified the phone numbers that placed the calls as being connected to Aflac, that he spoke with a company representative or agent initially or following a prerecorded message, or that he received a quote or other documentation from the insurer after any calls, it said. Because Smith doesn’t allege sufficient facts to establish that there was a TCPA violation or that Aflac was involved at all, the court should dismiss the second amended complaint under Rule 12(b)(6), with prejudice, it said.
Trinity Broadcasting Network knowingly disclosed Leah Smith's personally identifiable information (PII) to Meta, said her March 18 Video Privacy Protection Act class action in California Superior Court for Orange County, removed Tuesday to U.S. District Court for Central California (docket 2:24-cv-04030).