State Farm Tries to Dismiss TCPA Class Action Lawsuit

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. filed a motion to dismiss a Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action lawsuit from Illinois federal court, claiming the plaintiffs have failed to properly define the proposed TCPA Class. The proposed State Farm TCPA class action lawsuit alleges the insurance company should be held liable for telemarketing calls made on State Farm’s behalf.

State Farm claims the TCPA class action lawsuit should be tossed from federal court because the class action lawsuit allegedly “cannot be litigated on a classwide basis. Indeed, it would be impossible even to ascertain the members of Plaintiffs’ proposed class without conducting individualized inquiries into the circumstances of each alleged call to determine what connection, if any, the calls had to a State Farm Agent (let alone to State Farm).”

This motion to dismiss this State Farm TCPA class action lawsuit comes on the heels of a TCPA class action lawsuit filed in August by seven plaintiffs alleging State Farm of several TCPA violations.

According to U.S. District Judge Amy J. St. Eve, the plaintiffs of that TCPA lawsuit had sufficiently pleaded their claim that State Farm was liable for Variable Marketing LLC’s telemarketing calls as a subagency for State Farm.

The TCPA class action lawsuit State Farm is attempting to dismiss was filed by plaintiff Jennifer Smith and four other co-plaintiffs on Sept. 4 alleging they all received robocalls to their personal cellphones concerning State Farm auto insurance quotes.

According to Smith’s TCPA class action lawsuit, “State Farm emailed the quote directly to Smith. This quote from the defendant was precipitated by Variable’s call. State Farm therefore actively participated in the telemarketing scheme that is the subject of this case.” Additionally, two of the plaintiffs claim to have their numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry, which under the TCPA, telemarketers must honor.

Smith and her co-plaintiffs are seeking an injunction to prevent State Farm from committing TCPA violations in the future, $500 for each call made to the plaintiffs and Class Members, and $1,500 fine for each willful TCPA violation.

The State Farm TCPA Class Action Lawsuit is Smith v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., Case No. 1:13-cv-02018, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

What is The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)?

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) is a set of laws that limits the use of automatic telephone dialing equipment and prerecorded or “robocall” messages when business, telemarketers or solicitors contact individual consumers.

Over the past few years, hundreds of U.S. consumers have filed TCPA lawsuits or joined TCPA class action lawsuits against companies like State Farm that allegedly violated federal and state laws by contacting consumers through automated dialing systems without their prior express consent.

Join a Free TCPA Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you were contacted on your cell phone by a company via an unsolicited text message (text spam) or prerecorded voice message (robocall), you may be eligible for compensation under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.