Kohl’s Hit With TCPA Robocall Class Action Lawsuit

A robocall class action lawsuit has been launched by consumers who allege that Kohl’s has violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 or TCPA by harassing consumers electronically, specifically with prerecorded phone calls.

The current TCPA lawsuit alleges that Kohl’s violated the federal law by sending out unsolicited pre-recorded phone calls using an autodialer, also known as robocalls. Under the TCPA, such a call could be in violation of the law, potentially leaving Kohl’s vulnerable to legal action. Some of the TCPA’s core directives discourage the use of autodialers and prerecorded messages. Under the TCPA, Kohl could face hundreds of dollars for each individual violation, if a violation did occur.

Congress first passed the TCPA in 1991 as telecom technology was advancing. Advances, like fax machines and autodialers, made it easier for advertisers to send out increasingly invasive advertisements at almost no cost to themselves. The TCPA was designed to protect consumers from this increasingly invasive advertising.

Later amendments and court rulings have found that the TCPA also applies to email and text messages, expanding consumer protections. The court rulings came in response to corporations challenging the law on First Amendment grounds. It was ruled that the laws were constitutional and preventing companies from harassing consumers is not a violation of their First Amendment rights. The TCPA is designed to be enforced, partially, through lawsuits like the current class action lawsuit against Kohl’s.

The TCPA lawsuit against Kohl’s is taking the form of a class action lawsuit. Class action lawsuits are group lawsuits wherein a number of individual plaintiffs allege that they have suffered similar harm at the hands of the same defendant. Class action lawsuits are designed to streamline the legal system by combining tens, hundreds, or even thousands of potential individual lawsuits into a single class action lawsuit. This saves resources and time for all parties involved. The plaintiffs can share legal costs across a larger group of people, the defendant only faces a single lawsuit, and the court system only has to expend resources holding a single trial.

This robocall class action lawsuit is seeking out anyone who received a call from Kohl’s on or after June 2010 to a cellular phone, through the use of an autodialer, with or without a prerecorded message, including the initial application for a Kohl’s credit card. The TCPA lawsuit is limited to those that did not provide their number to Kohl’s.

The TCPA Class Action Lawsuit is Brittany Ineman v. Kohl’s Corporation, Case No. 14CV398, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.

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. Learn more and see if you qualify for a legal claim at the Text Message Spam, Unwanted Cell Phone Calls TCPA Class Action Lawsuit Settlement Investigation.