HRKM is pleased to have obtained dismissal with prejudice of a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (47 USC §227) and Florida Telephone Solicitation Act (FTSA, § 501.509, Fla. Stat.) lawsuit in the United States District Court, Southern District of Florida, for a valued client. Mederos v. Powersol USA, LLC, no. 1:23-cv-24228-CMA (S.D. Fla.). The TCPA and FTSA prohibit or regulate phone sales solicitation practices, including among other things, unsolicited sales calls to residential phone subscribers without their consent. The FTSA prohibits the use of autodialers to call people with sales messages without their express written consent. The original demand in the case was $15 million.
The plaintiff alleged Federal jurisdiction by asserting there was at least one out of state class member who had been improperly called without prior consent by the client. The complaint included boilerplate allegations from similar other actions including unlawful use of an “autodialer,” a device the use of which is regulated by the TCPA. Our client had vehemently denied from day one that it owned an and denied every having called anyone outside of Florida, because it only sells and installs solar power systems locally in Florida. In addition, diligent investigation by the client and the firm established that the plaintiff’s phone number was a cell phone used as a business number, and was not residential. The regulations under the TCPA do not regulate business to business calls. Shelton v. Target Advance LLC, 2019 WL 1641353 (E.D. Pa. 2019).
On August 1, 2024, the firm filed a summary judgment motion against the plaintiff. The motion included detailed affidavits from the owner of the company and a salesperson denying every allegation of the claim. On August 8, 2024, the plaintiff agreed to dismiss the case with prejudice. No money was paid.
There was evidence that the plaintiff in this action had filed a similar previous action in which he stated he had “feigned interest” in another company’s sales call for the purpose of identifying the company, which he then sued. The firm was happy to help a small business fight what it believed was a frivolous claim.
Our client was kind enough to discuss the case and thank us for our efforts on the TCPA World podcast.