$5M Nationwide Telemarketing Class Action Settlement Gets OK

A $5 million class action settlement has been preliminarily approved, ending allegations that Nationwide Mutual Insurance violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by placing telemarketing robocalls.

U.S. District Court Judge William M. Ray II granted approval of the Nationwide robocall class action settlement, finding the agreement to be “fair, reasonable, and adequate, and within the range of possible approval.”

In 2016, lead plaintiffs accused the insurer of making automated calls to consumers using prerecorded messages.

According to the Nationwide class action lawsuit, Nationwide made the calls in an attempt to sell insurance, but failed to get prior express consent from the consumers they called.

The Nationwide robocall class action lawsuit claimed the insurance company violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, or TCPA, when it made the calls.

The TCPA is a federal law that prohibits companies from engaging in some telemarketing activities without the prior express consent of the people they attempt to contact.

It also established the Do Not Call Registry, where consumers, fed up with annoying sales calls, can place their phone numbers. Companies are not supposed to call consumers on the registry.

The Act protects consumers from the use of automated dialing systems on behalf of companies advertising their products. An automated dialing system is any method or program that randomly generates numbers to call. Further, the TCPA restricts the use of prerecorded messages.

The plaintiffs, including four consumers who alleged they received automated calls from Nationwide, claimed that the company had called consumers with telemarketing messages without prior express permission both on landlines and to their cellular telephones.

They also alleged that Nationwide made 230 calls to those who had put their numbers on the Do Not Call Registry.

Nationwide agreed to pay $5 million to end the class action lawsuit without admitting fault, citing continued risks and expense associated with litigation.

Under the terms of the Nationwide robocall class action settlement, Class Members include three groups; those who were on the Do Not Call Registry and received calls; those who received calls that were transferred to a Nationwide agent; and those who received automated calls on behalf of the insurer without prior consent.

Class Members will receive a cash award based on the number of valid claims submitted.

The deadline for valid claims to be submitted is July 22, 2019. The final approval hearing is set for Aug. 1, 2019.

Top Class Actions will post updates to this class action settlement as they become available. For the latest updates, keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter. You can also receive notifications when this article is updated by using your free Top Class Actions account and clicking the “Follow Article” button at the top of the post.

The Class is represented by Michael J. Boyle Jr. and Matthew R. Wilson of Meyer Wilson Co. LPA, Edward A. Broderick of Broderick & Paronich PC, Jonathan D. Selbin, Daniel M. Hutchinson and John T. Spragens of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP, Alexander H. Burke and Daniel J. Marovitch of Burke Law Offices LLC, Matthew P. McCue of the Law Office of Matthew P. McCue, and Steven H. Koval of the Koval Firm LLC.

The Nationwide Robocall Class Action Lawsuit is Rice­-Redding, et al. v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, Case No. 1:16-­cv-03634, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

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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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