DirecTV ‘Knowingly or Willfully’ Placed Illegal Marketing Calls, Class Action Claims

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DirecTV has been hit with a proposed class action lawsuit over allegations the company placed illegal telemarketing calls to consumers’ cell phones without first obtaining consent to do so.

Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), companies are given certain restrictions surrounding the use of telemarketing calls. For instance, the statute forbids the use of an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) to place telemarketing calls unless the caller first obtains the express written consent of the called party, the lawsuit explains.

With regard to the lead plaintiff, the case claims the man received 30 or more calls from the defendant in 2017 and 2018 that were placed using an ATDS and advertised DirecTV’s services. The plaintiff says he has never been a DirecTV customer, however, and never provided consent to receive marketing calls from the defendant. By using an ATDS to call the plaintiff without his consent, DirecTV ran afoul of the TCPA, the suit argues.

According to the case, DirecTV has been hit with similar suits alleging TCPA violations “on numerous occasions,” some of which resulted in injunctions that required the defendant to monitor its telemarketing campaigns to ensure compliance with federal law. The lawsuit claims that as a result of these past legal actions, DirecTV was fully aware of the TCPA’s requirements, yet acted in willful violation of the statute. From the complaint:

“DIRECTV is acutely aware of the TCPA’s prohibitions against the use of an ATDS or artificial or prerecorded voices to make calls to cellular phones without the prior express written consent of the called party. Yet, despite the FTC lawsuits and numerous others filed by consumers, DIRECTV or its agents knowingly or willfully violated the TCPA and FCC Rules by making calls to the cellular telephones of Plaintiff and other similarly-situated consumers using an ATDS or artificial or prerecorded voice without their prior express written consent.”

The lawsuit seeks to cover a class of all persons or entities in the U.S. who have never been DirecTV subscribers, yet received a telemarketing call from the defendant on or after January 24, 2016 that was made using an ATDS or featured an artificial or prerecorded voice. The suit requests damages of $500 for each negligent TCPA violation and $1,500 for each knowing and willful violation.