National Gas & Electric Faces Class Action for ‘Intrusive’ Telemarketing Campaign

National Gas & Electric Telemarketing Class Action Lawsuit Overview:

• Why: The plaintiff argues that the energy company violated federal law by making telemarketing calls to phone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry.
• Who: A Pennsylvania resident filed a class action lawsuit against National Gas & Electric.
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in Texas federal court.

A Pennsylvania resident is suing energy supply company National Gas & Electric for its “intrusive and violative phone call campaign” that made several automatic telemarketing calls to phone numbers that were already on the National Do Not Call Registry. 

The lead plaintiff, Mark Metzler, accuses National Gas & Electric for knowingly and willfully violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) with its marketing campaign. The TCPA prohibits any person from calling a cellular telephone number, using an automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice and doing so without the recipient’s prior express consent, the complaint outlines. 

In October 2021, Metzler received several automatically dialed phone calls from the energy company to his cell phone. Metzler’s cell phone number has been on the National Do Not Call Registry since 2010, and Metzler did not provide National Gas & Electric with express written consent to be contacted for marketing purposes. 

Metzler seeks to represent two nationwide classes. The “No Consent” class will include anyone who, within four years before Jan. 3, 2022 (when the complaint was filed), was called on their cell phone by National Gas & Electric or anyone on the company’s behalf without prior express written consent. More than two seconds must have passed from the time the call was answered to when the call was transferred to a live sales agent. 

The “Do Not Call Registry” class includes anyone who, from four years before Jan. 3, 2022, was called on a Do Not Call Registry registered phone number by National Gas & Electric or anyone on the company’s behalf more than once within a 12-month period. The call must have been to market the company’s products and services, and no prior express written consent was obtained. 

National Gas & Electric Showed ‘No Regard’ to Consumer Rights, Complaint Says

Per Congress and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which issues rules and regulations implementing the TCPA, automated or prerecorded calls to cell phones are prohibited since automated and prerecorded calls are a greater nuisance and invasion of privacy than live calls. Wireless customers are also charged for incoming calls even if they are unwanted and unsolicited. In 2012, the FCC required “prior express written consent” for automated telemarketing calls to be made to wireless numbers. 

The class action lawsuit maintains that National Gas & Electric defied these regulations in order to “gain an advantage over its competitors and increase its revenue … with no regard for consumers’ privacy rights.” It’s unsolicited marketing harmed thousands of consumers through invasion of privacy, harassment, aggravation and disruption of daily life, the complaint says. 

Metzler seeks a declaration that National Gas & Electric violated the TCPA, the prohibition of the company from further using an artificial or prerecorded voice to contact telephone numbers assigned to cellular telephones without the prior express permission of the called party and an award of actual and statutory damages. 

Have you received persistent telemarketing calls from National Gas & Electric or other companies? Share your story in the comments section below!

The plaintiff is represented by Andrew J. Shamis of Shamis & Gentile, P.A.

The National Gas & Electric Telemarketing Class Action Lawsuit is Metzler v. National Gas & Electric, LLC, Case No. 4:22-cv-00005, in the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas. 

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