Marriott Class Action Lawsuit Says Marketing Calls Violate TCPA

Marriott International Inc. violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by making unsolicited marketing calls to a consumer’s cell phone, a TCPA class action lawsuit filed last week in California federal court alleges.

Plaintiff Jason Hartley claims Marriott invaded his privacy and violated the TCPA by contacting him on his cell phone using an automatic telephone dialing system.

He has filed the Marriott class action lawsuit on behalf of himself and a proposed Class of other persons in the United States who received a telephone call (not sent for emergency purposes) from or on behalf of Marriott that was made using an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) and/or an artificial or prerecorded message within the last four years.

According to the Marriott TCPA class action lawsuit, Hartley added his cell phone number to the National Do Not Call Registry in December 2004. He says he started receiving marketing phone calls from Marriott beginning in January 2017. Hartley maintains that he never provided prior express consent for Marriott to contact him on his cell phone.

Because of Marriott’s placement of unwanted marketing calls to Hartley’s cell phone, Hartley says he “suffered an invasion of his legally protected interest in privacy, which is specifically addressed and protected by the TCPA.”

Further, Hartley says he was “personally affected because he was frustrated and distressed that Defendant harassed Plaintiff with a call using an ATDS”

These Marriott marketing calls reportedly informed Hartley that he had been selected for certain Marriott rewards such as an all-inclusive stay. At least one of the messages included a recording instructing him to press one to speak to a representative or to press two to be placed on a do not call list. Even though he pressed two to be placed on a do not call list, Hartley says he continued to receive marketing calls from Marriott.

The Marriott TCPA class action lawsuit claims that Hartley and other putative Class Members were harmed by the unwanted marketing calls from Marriott because the calls caused them to incur cell phone charges or reduce cell phone call time for which they had already paid. Further, these unwanted calls invaded their privacy, Hartley says.

“In enacting the TCPA, Congress intended to give consumers a choice about how creditors and telemarketers may call them, and made specific findings that ‘[t]echnologies that might allow consumers to avoid receiving calls are not universally available, are costly, are unlikely to be enforced, or place an inordinate burden on the consumer,’” the Marriott TCPA class action lawsuit alleges.

Hartley asserts Marriott’s unwanted calls are in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and the TCPA class action lawsuit seeks damages for $500 for each negligent violation of the TCPA and $1,500 for each knowing and/or willful violation of the TCPA.

Hartley is represented by Joshua Swigart of Hyde & Swigart and Abbass Kazerounian of Kazerouni Law Group PC.

The Marriott TCPA Class Action Lawsuit is Jason Hartley v. Marriott International Inc., Case No. 3:17-cv-00770, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

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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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