Charter Communications Hit with Class Action Over Alleged Robocalls Advertising Spectrum Services
by Erin Shaak
Starling v. Charter Communications, Inc.
Filed: October 6, 2021 ◆§ 3:21-cv-01323
Charter Communications faces a lawsuit that claims it failed to secure consumers’ consent before placing robocalls to their cell phones advertising Spectrum services.
Connecticut
Charter Communications, Inc. faces a proposed class action over its alleged practice of placing automated telemarketing calls to consumers who never consented to be contacted or whose cell phone numbers are listed on the National Do Not Call Registry.
The lawsuit alleges the calls, which advertised Charter’s cable, internet and phone services under the Spectrum brand name, have violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), a federal law that imposes penalties of $500 and up to $1,500 on those who place automated, non-emergency telemarketing calls without obtaining a recipient’s prior express written consent to do so.
The plaintiff, a Texas resident, claims to have received a prerecorded voice call from Charter on September 8, 2020 that mentioned “bundling” and instructed the woman to “press 1” to speak with a live representative. Upon being connected with an individual who said he was calling on behalf of “Spectrum,” the plaintiff told the representative “to not call her again,” the lawsuit relays.
Nevertheless, the plaintiff claims to have received in January 2021 a second prerecorded voice call from Charter or someone acting on its behalf.
According to the suit, the plaintiff had never provided her cell phone number to Charter before the initial call and had no prior business relationship with the company. Moreover, the woman’s cell phone number had been listed on the National Do Not Call Registry since December 2004, the lawsuit relays.
Per the case, Charter violated the plaintiff’s privacy, intruded on her right to seclusion and wasted her time by placing the “annoying and harassing” calls without obtaining her prior express consent to be contacted.
The lawsuit, which was recently removed from state to federal court in Connecticut, proposes to cover the following two classes:
“Prerecorded Voice Class: All persons with cell phones during the time period from four years prior to the filing of this action until the date a class is certified, to whom Charter or someone acting on its behalf placed a prerecorded voice call. Excluded from the class are all persons who were current or former Charter customers at the time they received such calls.”
“Do Not Call Registry Class: For the period from four years prior to the filing of this suit until the date a class is certified, all persons in the United States who: (1) received more than one telephone call or text message from Charter or someone acting on its behalf during a 12-month period; and, (2) were registered on the Do Not Call Registry for more than 31 days at the time the calls were received.”
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