Chase Bank Agrees to $10.2M Robocall Class Action Settlement

JPMorgan Chase Bank NA has agreed to a $10.2 million settlement of a robocall class action lawsuit in Illinois federal court.

The named plaintiff, Sheila A., alleged in her class action lawsuit that Chase used an automated system to make about 80 phone calls to her mobile phone in under three months. She says Chase used either an automatic telephone dialing system or a prerecorded message. Such calls, Sheila argued, violated the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act, or TCPA.

The settlement agreement recognizes a Class of would-be plaintiffs that consists of all persons in the United States who received similar robocalls from Chase from Nov. 18, 2009 through the date of entry of the court’s preliminary order approving the settlement. Chase estimates this Class definition encompasses about 2.2 million persons in the United States.

TCPA Class Action Lawsuit Settlement

Sheila initiated her TCPA class action lawsuit in November 2013. After discovery and mediation in January, the parties reached an agreement in principle in February and negotiated the details over the next two and a half months.

The $10.2 million settlement fund includes an amount, to be approved by the court, to cover attorneys’ fees and court costs. Though the parties could not agree on the amount for attorneys’ fees, class counsel says they plan to seek an award of 33 percent of the class benefit. The settlement also does not set an incentive award for Sheila, the named plaintiff, but she plans to ask the court for an award of $25,000.

The bulk of the settlement fund will be distributed to plaintiffs on a pro rata basis, dependent on the number of valid and timely claims. Chase estimates individual plaintiffs will receive $45 to $55 each. Class counsel notes that these payouts are comparable to those that met with court approval in other, similar TCPA class action lawsuits.

By the terms of the settlement, the fund is non-reversionary: none of it will revert back to Chase under any circumstances.

To make a claim, eligible Class Members must complete a Claim Form and submit it to the Claims Administrator either by mail or through the settlement website. The parties have nominated Kurtzman Carson Consultants to be the Claims Administrator, subject to the court’s approval.

Despite the parties’ mutual consent to the class action settlement agreement, they continue to disagree on certain subordinate issues. Chase still argues that a possible pending rule change by the FCC could bar the claims of some of the plaintiff Class Members, including that of the named plaintiff. The change, requested in petitions by other industry members, would create a safe harbor for companies that make phone calls to a wrong number.

Chase also maintains that some Class Members’ claims are subject to arbitration agreements that Chase says would prevent them from litigating those claims as part of this class action lawsuit. Chase also says the proposed plaintiff Class does not meet the requirements for certification because of inherently individual issues among the Class Members.

It’s not clear whether, or how, Chase’s disagreement on these issues would have any effect on the class action settlement.

This TCPA Lawsuit is Case No. 13-cv-08285, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

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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.

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