Kohl’s Sued in TCPA Lawsuit by NJ Man

A New Jersey man is suing Kohl’s Corp. for allegedly violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (or TCPA) by calling his cell phone repeatedly without his consent.

Plaintiff Jan K. has filed this TCPA lawsuit against the popular clothing retail company because he continuously received unsolicited cell phone calls from Kohl’s. These calls were allegedly placed using an automated telephone dialing system and prerecorded messages over the course of the last four years.

According to the Kohl’s TCPA lawsuit:

“The Plaintiff never gave the Defendant his prior, express permission to call his cell phone via the use of an automated telephone dialing system. Upon information and belief, Plaintiff has never provided his cell phone number to Defendant or had any credit card, store card or other business relationship with the Defendant. Plaintiff had no wish to be contacted on his cell phone via the use of an autodialer, and expressly directed Defendant to stop calling his cell phone number on numerous occasions.”

Jan’s TCPA lawsuit against Kohl’s alleges that the clothing retailer committed several TCPA violations by contacting him without his express consent and by doing so through means blocked by federal law. He is seeking a jury trial, statutory damages of $500 for each call placed by Kohl’s to the plaintiff’s cell phone, treble damages of $1,500 per call because of the company’s willful violation of the TCPA, and any other forms of relief deemed fit by the court.

The Kohl’s TCPA Lawsuit is Case No. 3:15-cv-01020-MAS-TJB, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

What is The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)?

The TCPA is a set of federal laws that limits telephone soliciting by companies and telemarketers. This set of laws pays extremely close attention to the use of ATDS (or automated telephone dialing systems) by companies like Kohl’s to make robocalls to current and potential consumers. The TCPA also sets rules as to what times during the day a person can be contacted and lays out what would constitute as express consent of an individual.

In addition to unwanted phone calls, the TCPA has also been updated to include rules against companies’ text spam (also known as unsolicited text messages) to their consumers’ cell phones.

According to the Federal Communications Commission’s Website:

“The TCPA and the FCC’s rules ban many text messages sent to a mobile phone using an autodialer. These texts are banned unless (1) you previously gave consent to receive the message or (2) the message is sent for emergency purposes. This ban applies even if you have not placed your mobile phone number on the national Do-Not-Call list of numbers telemarketers must not call.”

Kohl’s is not the only company to allegedly violate TCPA statutes by sending unsolicited cell phone calls or text-spam messages. Many businesses who allegedly employ automated dialers to call or text consumers without their expressed consent are facing potential TCPA class action lawsuits or individual TCPA text spam lawsuits. You should contact a TCPA attorney if you believe your rights under the federal act were violated by a company or solicitor.

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.

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