U.S. District Judge Fernando Aenlle-Rocha for Central California in Los Angeles has reviewed defendant T-Mobile’s notice of removal of plaintiff Esperanza Rendon’s fraud complaint and “is presently unable to conclude” that his court has subject-matter jurisdiction under the Class Action Fairness Act, said the judge’s signed order Monday (docket 2:24-cv-01666). In particular, “and without limitation,” the court finds that the allegations in the notice of removal don’t demonstrate “by a preponderance of the evidence that the amount in controversy exceeds $5 million,” said the order. The judge ordered the parties, by Aug. 8, to show cause why the case shouldn’t be remanded to state court where it originated “for lack of subject matter jurisdiction because the amount in controversy does not exceed the jurisdictional threshold,” it said. Failure to timely respond to the order will result in the remand of the case “without further warning,” it said. Rendon is suing T-Mobile to challenge the “regulatory programs & telco recovery fee” it charges on its monthly invoices (see 2406170035). She also alleges that when she purchased additional phones from T-Mobile, she was charged for “add-on” device protection plans without her knowledge or consent.
Ascension Health broke the trust of millions of current and former patients last month when it announced hackers attacked its network systems, exposing patients' personally identifiable (PII) and protected health information (PHI), eight plaintiffs alleged in a negligence class action Friday (docket 4:24-cv-00870) in U.S. District Court for Eastern Missouri in Cape Girardeau.
Angie’s List uses unsolicited text messaging to promote its goods and services, and continues to text-message consumers even after they have opted out of the company’s solicitations, a Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action alleged Friday (docket 1:24-cv-22400). Angie’s List also engages in telemarketing “without the required policies and procedures," and its telemarketing personnel lack proper training, Leonardo Aguilar’s complaint said. Aguilar asked to opt out of Angie’s List’s text messaging April 22 when he replied “stop” to one of those messages, according to the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for Southern Florida. But the defendant ignored the request, and continued sending the Florida resident multiple text messages through June 17, his complaint said. The text messages advertised home repair and roofing services, it said.
A marketing and real estate firm in Mesa, Arizona, “routinely violates” the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by delivering ads or telemarketing text messages to residential or cellphone numbers listed on the national do not call registry, and does so “without the prior express invitation or permission required by the TCPA,” alleged Mandi Potter’s class action Friday (docket 4:24-cv-00866) in U.S. District Court for Eastern Missouri. American House Partners appears to operate a telemarketing enterprise, “the likes of which the TCPA has largely done away with,” said the Imperial, Missouri, resident’s complaint. It operates in “brazen disregard” of the TCPA’s restrictions, it said. The company openly touts that it engages in ongoing “cold call” telemarketing and high pressure sales tactics to acquire consumers’ homes "for massive discounts on their fair market value," it said. It then promptly flips those homes to other investors “for substantial profits by way of assignment contracts,” it said. Potter personally listed her cellphone number with the DNC registry in 2018, “and has maintained that registration through the present date,” it said. She nevertheless began receiving numerous text messages in March from a “rotating series of phone numbers,” seeking to solicit her to use American House Partners in the sale of her home, it said. Potter didn’t give the defendant prior express written consent to send text messages to her cellphone number, said the complaint. The plaintiff “suffered actual harm as a result of the text messages at issue in that she suffered an invasion of privacy, an intrusion into her life, and a private nuisance,” it said. She suffered additional harm “due to her frustration and difficulty in identifying the entity and persons responsible” for the unwanted text messages, it said. American House Partners knew, or should have known, that Potter registered her cellphone number with the DNC registry, it said.
“Impermissibly inadequate and unlawful data security” at advertising data analytics firm Ampersand.tv caused plaintiff Kathryn Mortensen and “hundreds of thousands of” class members’ personally identifiable information (PII) to be exfiltrated by cybercriminals in a Sept. 28 data breach, alleged a class action Friday (docket 1:24-cv-04749) in U.S. District Court for Southern New York.
Cloud communications platform company Twilio intercepts consumers’ personally identifiable information (PII) and protected health information (PHI), “and related confidential information” without their consent, alleged a privacy class action Friday (docket 4:24-cv-03741) in U.S. District Court for Northern California in Oakland.
Goldman Sachs Bank used, controlled or operated a phone system that was designed to place multiple calls to Andrea Dickson’s cellphone to collect a debt using an artificial voice or prerecorded voice message, in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protections Act and California’s Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, alleged Dickson’s class action Thursday (docket 3:24-cv-01070) in U.S. District Court for Southern California in San Diego. Goldman Sachs issued Dickson an Apple-branded consumer credit card in 2022 for personal and household expenses, said the complaint. The San Diego County resident continued making regular monthly payments to her account and maintained it in good standing until July, when she fell on financial hardship and was unable to maintain the regular monthly payments, it said. After Dickson defaulted on her account, Goldman Sachs agents phoned her multiple times and requested payment using a prerecorded voice, “often as many as twice per day, sometimes every day,” it said. Dickson’s attorney sent Goldman Sachs a cease and desist letter in September, revoking any prior consent to contact her, it said. The bank nevertheless phoned her at least 125 times after receiving the revocation letter, said the complaint. The plaintiff alleges that Goldman Sachs phoned her more than two to three times in a single day, and often more than seven times a week, “based on her recollection of the frequency of calls, as well as the records of calls that she has in her possession,” it said. According to Dickson’s recollection, the multiple calls featured an “automated robotic type voice,” which is “indicative of a prerecorded voice message using what appeared to be a computerized automated voice used in an attempt to collect upon the subject debt,” it said.
Alex Inskeep listed his cellphone number on the national do not call registry in January 2012, yet in December 2023 and continuing through the present, he began receiving text messages on his phone from the Arizona Property Group, offering him cash to sell his home, said his Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action Wednesday (docket 2:24-cv-01478) in U.S. District Court for Arizona. The Phoenix resident isn’t and wasn’t selling his home, and was confused as to why he was even receiving such messages, said the complaint. He alleges the company sent him at least three telemarketing text messages in 2023 and 2024, it said. Inskeep didn’t give the company prior express consent to send text messages to his cellphone number, it said. The plaintiff “suffered actual harm as a result of the text messages at issue in that he suffered an invasion of privacy, an intrusion into his life, and a private nuisance,” it said. The defendant knew, or should have known, that Inskeep listed his cellphone number with the DNC registry, it said.
UiPath, a business automation software company, mispresented the success of its AI-themed turnaround strategy, alleged a Securities Exchange Act class action Thursday (docket 1:24-cv-04702) in U.S. District Court for Southern New York in Manhattan. The suit names CEO Daniel Dines, former CEO Robert Enslin and Chief Financial Officer Ashim Gupta as defendants.
Network Capital Funding is engaged in a scheme to sell mortgage refinance services via cold calls to residential phone numbers listed on the "protected" federal do not call registry, alleged a class action Tuesday (docket 8:24-cv-01335) in U.S. District Court for Central California. Network Capital’s illegal telemarketing calls are prohibited by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, “which gives victims of junk calls a private right of action to sue for the intrusion on their privacy,” said Paul Sapan’s complaint. Network Capital’s “modus operandi is the same for all the calls in this case,” it said. It either directly or through an agent calls “massive lists of phone numbers” in the U.S. to sell its services without regard to whether those numbers are listed on the national DNC registry, it said. Network Capital or its agents don’t check the DNC registry before making these calls, nor do they engage in any other DNC registry compliance, it said. Network Capital has intentionally violated the TCPA “in a so-far successful attempt to sell financial and/or mortgage packages for years,” it said. Sapan alleges that Network Capital made at least 15 calls to his residential phone number, though that number has been listed continuously on the national DNC registry since December 2007, said the complaint. The Orange County, California resident, never gave Network Capital or any of its agents his express written permission to call him, nor does he have an established business or personal relationship with the company or any of its agents and employees, the complaint said. Past defendants have accused the plaintiff of being one of the “most prolific TCPA litigants in the country,” but Sapan defends himself as a “TCPA Robin Hood” who sues "junk callers" for their illegal calls, “then gives his portion of the recovery to charity” (see 2308310039).