TCPA Lawsuit Claims Discover Called Cell Phone 200 Times

A TCPA lawsuit has been filed by a Tennessee resident claiming she received more than 200 unsolicited and unwanted cell phone calls by Discover Financial Services regarding a debt she did not owe.

Plaintiff Gina K. alleges the debt collection calls started in March 2014. Gina claims to have informed Discover that they must be calling a wrong number since she has no relationship with the financial service company. The plaintiff alleges she then asked Discover not to call her again and that is when the incessant, unwanted cell phone calls began.

According to the Discover TCPA lawsuit, several violations have occurred. Plaintiff Gina claims she never consented to the phone calls nor did she provide her cell phone number to Discover. She also alleges that all of the 200 unwanted cell phone calls used an automatic telephone dialing system as evidenced by the delay and clicking sound until a live voice would come on the line. Gina also claims a further TCPA violation occurred when she specifically asked the company to stop calling and the unwanted cell phone calls continued at an alarming rate.

Gina reports that regardless of the TCPA laws that protect consumers from telemarketers, Discover’s corporate policy provided no way for Gina to remove her number from the call list. The Discover TCPA lawsuit states that “the effect of this policy is that (the) defendant continues to harass and abuse individuals, such as plaintiff, despite actual knowledge that the called parties do not wish to be called.”

Plaintiff Gina is seeking $1,500 for each and every TCPA violation.

Telephone Consumer Protection Act Explained

Congress enacted the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) in 1991 after a growing number of complaints regarding the practices of telemarketing. The TCPA made it illegal for telemarketers to use robocalls to deliver prerecorded messages without prior “express consent.”

In 2013, the TCPA defined “express consent” as a signed written agreement between the business and customer with the exception of calls from debt collection agencies. In the Discover TCPA lawsuit, Gina alleges that the only exception to the TCPA law regarding debt collection does not apply in this situation as she does not have a lending relationship with Discover Financial Services.

Other TCPA violations include:

• Using an automatic telephone dialing system to place phone calls
• Unsolicited cell phone calls
• Calls to consumers who specifically ask the company not to call them
• Unsolicited text messages or text message spam
• Calls to homes before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. local time
• Failing to identify the person or entity on whose behalf the call is being made
• Unsolicited advertising faxes
• Calling consumers placed on the National Do Not Call Registry

TCPA Lawsuits

Hundreds of TCPA lawsuits have been filed throughout the United States and the numbers continue to grow as consumers become more informed of their legal rights. Customers are often victims of TCPA violations without even realizing that there are laws set in place to protect them.

Due to the nature of the large number of calls that can go out at once using an automatic dialing system, companies who are found liable of TCPA violations are often required to pay millions of dollars to plaintiffs.

If you received an unwanted cell phone call, text spam, or robocall, you may be able to join a TCPA class action lawsuit.

The TCPA Lawsuit is Case No. 3:15-cv-00236-TAV-HBG in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, Northern Division.

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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