AT&T Agrees to Pay $45 Million to Settle TCPA Lawsuit

AT&T Mobility agreed to pay $45 million to settle a proposed class action lawsuit accusing the company of making unsolicited calls to cell phones in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).

Plaintiff Joel Hagelman filed a TCPA lawsuit last year stating that the cell phone carrier robo-called his cell phone without his permission. Under the TCPA, consumers who receive unsolicited calls without prior express permission are entitled to $500-$1,500 per violation.

Hagelman alleges that he received multiple recorded phone calls from AT&T that commenced with “This is an important message from AT&T to discuss your wireless service.”

AT&T has argued that the calls were lawful because many members of the proposed Class consented to receiving calls from AT&T by providing their cell phone numbers as a “can-be-reached” contact for AT&T customer accounts. AT&T has also maintained that the calls did not constitute an “automatic telephone dialing system” as defined under the TCPA. Cell phone users who may have inadvertently received an unsolicited call from AT&T were called in error, according to the TCPA lawsuit.

There are an estimated 16,000 potential members of the lawsuit’s proposed Class. The proposed TCPA class action settlement would allow Class Members to receive up to $500 per unlawful call.

Enacted in 1991, the TCPA allows up to a $500 fine per violation, and $1,500 for cell phone users who can provide evidence of an intentional violation. Text messages, known as text spam, are also included in the TCPA and are considered tantamount to telephone calls, as are autodialed calls sent to wireless phones without advance consent of the consumer.

Other provisions of the TCPA prohibit solicitations to residences before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. and require solicitors to identify themselves and their company as well as a telephone number and address where the company can be contacted. Solicitors must also maintain a company-specific do-not-call list which is to be honored for five years.

While the proposed AT&T settlement would be sizable, there have been bigger.

In July, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce reported that Capital One and several other credit agencies paid more than $75 million to settle claims that they contacted consumers on their mobile devices without consent. The $75 million payout is the largest in the TCPA’s 21-year history and in addition to the settlement, Capital One agreed to improve its calling systems to avoid calling consumers via autodial without their prior approval. The agreement is awaiting final approval by a federal judge.

In September, a judge approved a $32 million Bank of America settlement for calls and texts soliciting home mortgage loans and credit cards allegedly in violation of the TCPA.

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.