NEW YORK LIFE TELEMARKETING CALLS CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT
By Paul Tassin
July 6, 2017
Persons who received telemarketing calls from New York Life may be entitled to compensation under terms of a TCPA class action settlement.
Plaintiff Abante Rooter and Plumbing Inc. filed this anti-telemarketing class action lawsuit in May 2016. The company alleged defendant New York Life unlawfully placed calls to mobile phone numbers that had been listed on the National Do Not Call Registry. Abante Rooter also claimed New York Life placed calls using automatic dialing equipment or prerecorded announcements to persons who had not consented to receiving such calls.
In filing this action against New York Life, Abante Rooter took advantage of the civil suit provisions of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, or TCPA. Originally passed in 1991, the TCPA established the National Do Not Call Registry.
Persons who do not want to receive unsolicited telemarketing calls may list their phone numbers on this registry to let telemarketers know their calls are not welcome at that number. The TCPA also requires companies to maintain their own records of persons who have opted out of receiving telemarketing calls.
Another provision of the TCPA restricts callers from using automated dialing equipment and artificial or prerecorded voices when calling persons who have not expressly consented to being called that way. The TCPA has been updated to apply this prohibition to calls and text messages placed to mobile phone numbers.
Persons who receive contacts that violate the TCPA may be able to sue for statutory damages of $500 to $1,500 per violation.
Abante Rooter and New York Life agreed to the current TCPA class action settlement following an October 2016 mediation session. Under terms of the settlement, New York Life has agreed to put up a settlement fund totaling $3.35 million. This fund will cover payments to qualifying Class Members after attorneys’ fees, court costs, service awards for the named plaintiff, and cost of settlement administration are covered.
New York Life continues to deny Abante Rooter’s allegations. The company is not required to admit any fault, and the court has made no determination of liability.