Judge Allows ‘Project Runway’ Robocall Class Action to Continue

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

A federal judge has denied a motion to dismiss a class action lawsuit against Lifetime Entertainment Services LLC accusing the television network of violating federal law by robocalling people to advertise their TV show “Project Runway.”

The class action lawsuit hinges on alleged violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, better known as the TCPA. The TCPA was drafted by Congress in response to concerns about new telemarketing technology’s potential use to harass consumers. The TCPA limits the circumstances and methods companies may use to contact consumers.

Some provisions of the TCPA make it illegal to make unsolicited calls using “robodialers,” automated telephone machines that play a prerecorded message. Among other allegations, the TCPA class action lawsuit alleges that Lifetime attempted to market their TV show “Project Runway” in violation of the federal law. The TCPA is designed to be enforced partially through civil actions. The plaintiffs each seek $500 in damages. This amount could potentially be raised to $1,500 if the plaintiffs can prove the alleged violations are “willful,” in the wording of the TCPA. The alleged TCPA violations occurred during 2009.

In response to the class action lawsuit, Lifetime’s legal team filed a motion to have the case dismissed. Their motion alleged that the “Project Runway” phone calls were not violations of the TCPA, because the calls were not for a commercial purpose, per se. Since Lifetime does not directly sell anything to consumers, the motion argued, the calls were “purely informational” and not intended as sales calls. Under the network’s interpretation of the TCPA, this factor made the calls “non-commercial” and exempt from regulation and legal action.

Like many previous challenges to the TCPA, Lifetime’s legal team holds that the lawsuit’s interpretation of the TCPA violates the company’s constitutional right to free speech. However, similar TCPA class action lawsuits, including Moser v. FCC and Destination Ventures Ltd. v. FCC settled the issue that the TCPA does not intrinsically violate telemarketers’ rights to free speech. Other cases related to the TCPA have also resolved issues related to jurisdiction and text messages.

However, the judge overseeing the case dismissed the motion on Dec. 11, 2013. The judge ruled that since no major evidence or arguments had been posted, the motion was premature. The motion was dismissed without prejudice, meaning that it will not have any effect on the rest of the lawsuit.

The Lifetime Robocall Class Action Lawsuit is formally titled Leyse v. Lifetime Entertainment Services LLC, Case No. 1:13-cv-05794, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

UPDATE: On Jan. 27, 2016, Lifetime asked the court to force Leyse to accept the $1,503 settlement offer.

Help for Victims of Text Spam, Robocalls and Other TCPA Violations

If you received an unsolicited text message or cell phone call, or received a call that placed from an autodialer (“robocall”), you may be able to take legal action against the company(ies) responsible. Consumer class action settlements for TCPA violations typically pay out $100 to several hundred dollars to Class Members. See if you qualify to participate in a class action lawsuit by filling out the short form at the TCPA Class Action Lawsuit Investigation.