Abbott Laboratories Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over Secret Phone Call Recording
By John Curran
A California woman has filed a class action lawsuit against pharmaceutical company Abbott Laboratories after finding out the company secretly recorded a phone conversation she had with a representative regarding Similac infant formula.
Plaintiff Maggie Franco says that a representative who answered her call to a toll-free number did not tell her that the call was being recorded and in no part of the conversation did she provide “express or implied consent to the recording.” Franco alleges in the invasion of privacy lawsuit that Abbott “records all incoming telephone calls” without disclosure. Recording phone calls without informing customers is a violation of California’s Invasion of Privacy Act.
Her invasion of privacy lawsuit cites evidence that consumers who make phone calls regarding products for children and healthcare concerns, like Franco did, have a reasonable expectation that these conversations are confidential. In addition, a poll from research firm Harris included in the potential class action lawsuit indicates that 73 percent of Americans “believe that it is ‘extremely important’ that conversations never be recorded or monitored without the consent of all parties.” However, the expectation of privacy is not required for the class of citizens to seek damages in California via state statute violations.
The relevant sections of the California Penal code are 632.5-632.7, which define contact between landlines, cordless phone, and cell phones in each of the various permutations and deems a violation has occurred when someone “intercepts or receives and intentionally records” or assists in that effort “without the consent of all parties.” California is just one of dozens of states that requires all parties to agree for a phone call to be recorded.
In addition, a California state appeals court has written that the goal of the statute is wide-ranging “but at a bare minimum must ensure an individual’s right to control the firsthand dissemination of a confidential communication, and …to strongly protect an individual’s privacy rights in electronic communications.”
Franco is seeking statutory damages of up to $5,000 per violation or treble damages if Abbott Laboratories is found to have engaged in illicit wiretapping in a wanton matter. The putative class is only seeking damages for that section of the penal code, rather than common law privacy damages.
Franco and the rest of the class are represented by Thomas D. Mauriello of Mauriello Law Firm APC and James C. Shah and Rose F. Luzon of Shepherd Finkelman Miller & Shah, LLP.
The Abbott Laboratories Phone Call Recording Class Action Lawsuit is Maggie Franco et al. v. Abbott Laboratories Inc., Case No. 13-cv-01906, in the United States District Court, Central District of California.
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3 thoughts onAbbott Laboratories Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over Secret Phone Call Recording
I have four grandchildren whom I had to buy similac for and every time I received calls from some one about the formula I was never told that I was being recorded.
I have four children and they all used similac. I received many calls and never was I told that my calls was being recorded.
where is the claim form