Class Action Claims Charter Secretly Records Sales Calls in Calif.

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A proposed class action alleges Charter Communications, Inc. has violated a California privacy law by recording inbound and outbound sales calls without consumers’ knowledge or consent.

According to the suit, Charter and subsidiary Spectrum Management Holding Company, LLC have failed to warn California residents that their calls with the companies would be recorded or monitored. The case claims the defendants have violated the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), which prohibits one party to a telephone call from intentionally recording the conversation without the other party’s knowledge or consent when the party being recorded is using a cellular telephone.

Per the case, Charter, Spectrum and their agents intentionally record both incoming and outgoing sales calls with California residents while encouraging prospective customers to provide their personal information over the phone. The suit alleges, however, that callers and call recipients are not warned that their conversations will be recorded.

Charter sells cable television, broadband internet, and phone services under the brand name Spectrum. The plaintiff, a California resident, claims to have called Spectrum on July 23, 2020 from her cell phone to sign up for the defendants’ cable and internet services and schedule an appointment for equipment to be installed in her home. According to the suit, the plaintiff was asked to, and did, provide her personal information, including her home address, email address and date of birth, and was given a confirmation number and date of installation. The plaintiff says she also received a follow-up call from Spectrum on the same day regarding the scheduling of her installation date.

The lawsuit argues that although the calls with the plaintiff were recorded by the defendants, the woman was never informed that her conversations would be recorded and “[a]t no time” provided her consent.

The plaintiff looks to represent anyone in California whose inbound or outbound phone conversations were recorded by Charter and Spectrum or their agents and who were not first informed that the conversation was being recorded any time during the applicable limitations period through the date of class certification.

Initially filed July 9, 2021 in Alameda County, California Superior Court, the lawsuit was removed to the state’s Northern District Court on August 10.

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