Mercedes Hit with Robocall Class Action Lawsuit

A woman says that she was repeatedly called by the lending wing of Mercedes Benz in violation of laws protecting people from robocalls, according to a recently filed class action lawsuit.

Plaintiff Diane Bush alleges in the Mercedes Benz robocall calss action lawsuit that she was called several times last fall by Mercedes-Benz Financial Services and “did not provide ‘prior express consent’ to defendant to place telephone calls to [her] cellular phone with an artificial or prerecorded voice[.]”

She is seeking both injunctive and economic relief on behalf of herself as well as any consumers in the United States who received similar calls for the last four years, pursuant to the statute of limitations and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, according to the Mercedes Benz class action lawsuit.

The TCPA was passed to stop unwanted text messages as well as unsolicited phone calls to consumers’ cell phones. The statutory penalty is a $500 minimum for each instance that the law is violated.

An interesting note in the TCPA class action lawsuit is that it “seeks only statutory damages and injunctive relief … and it expressly is not intended to request any recovery for personal injury and claims related thereto.” Using this terminology as well as the allegation that Bush received calls with the use of an “automatic telephone dialing system” (robocalls) may provide benefits in terms of certifying the class as well as meeting the standards of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

Some courts have ruled that a plaintiff must address how they are certain that an automated system is used, and TCPA class action lawsuit attorneys often include the phrasing with the expectation that it will be verified during discovery. Avoiding a personal injury claim that would seek separate economic damages could lead to issues of typicality, as people with different phone plans may not have had to pay the same amount for the robocalls received.

The Mercedes Benz TCPA Class Action Lawsuit is Diane Bush v. Mercedes-Benz Financial Services LLC, Case No. 14-cv-03868, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

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.