A California resident recently filed a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) class action lawsuit against Consolidated World Travel Inc., also known as Holiday Cruise Line. The TCPA class action lawsuit claims Holiday Cruise Line sent plaintiff Scott W. and countless others text messages in violation of the law.
According to the TCPA lawsuit, Scott began receiving unwanted text messages from Holiday Cruise Line in December. The messages claimed that Scott had a prize to claim and provided a number that he should call to claim it.
Scott alleges Holiday Cruise Line did not have prior consent to message Scott’s cell phone. According to the TCPA lawsuit, prior to receiving the messages he had never had any kind of relationship or contact with the company. As of when the TCPA class action lawsuit was filed, Scott said he had received approximately 15 unwanted text messages.
Scott is seeking monetary compensation and asking the court to approve his complaint as a class action lawsuit. In his complaint, Scott alleges he is representative of a Class of people who have also suffered from Holiday Cruise Line violating the TCPA.
He asserts that while the number of members in the Class is not yet known, he believes the number may be in the hundreds of thousands. Scott asks the court to certify his class action because a class action lawsuit will allow many victims who can’t afford to bring a lawsuit on their own to receive compensation.
Business Complaints about the TCPA
As the number of TCPA lawsuits increase, business groups have begun to complain to the government about the TCPA restrictions. As consumers shift from using landlines to primarily using cell phones, businesses are having a harder time contacting consumers.
A number of business groups including the National Association of Manufacturers, the American Council of Life Insurers, and the American Financial Services Association, have filed complaints to the FCC to allow more exceptions to the TCPA.
Congress enacted the TCPA to protect telephone consumers from nuisance and privacy invasions. Congress wanted to allow consumers to choose how creditors and telemarketers could call them.
Parts of the TCPA make it illegal for creditors and telemarketers to use automated dialers and prerecorded messages when calling consumer cell phones.
An appeals court judge recently noted that while automated and prerecorded calls made to a landline are annoying, automated calls to cell phones are both annoying and create a consumer expense.
Under the TCPA, creditors and telemarketers are banned from making automated and prerecorded calls and messages unless the consumer gives express consent, or the calls are necessary due to an emergency situation. Each negligent violation of the TCPA requires violators to pay a $500 fine and each willful violation can result in a $1,500 penalty. Lawsuits like this are an important tool in protecting consumer rights and preventing businesses from violating the TCPA in the future.
This TCPA Class Action Lawsuit is Case No. 2:15-cv-00828, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.