A final judgment of $267,349,000 has been entered against a collection agency that was found guilty of violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by making calls to individuals’ cell phones without their prior consent.
A copy of the order in the case of McMillion v. Rash Curtis & Associates can be accessed by clicking here.
In May, a jury found the defendant guilty of making more than 500,000 calls in violation of the TCPA. There were four classes of individuals — two involving those who received skiptracing-related calls or pre-recorded messages and two involving individuals who were not debtors and not being sought after by the defendant for collection but received calls on their cell phones or pre-recorded messages.
This case had previously made headlines following a ruling from a judge that deemed the filing of a lawsuit against a collection agency was sufficient to indicate that consent to be contacted had been revoked and the defendant should have used the suit as such.
The amount awarded by Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the District Court for the Northern District of California was the same amount sought by the plaintiffs following the jury’s verdict. A copy of the verdict can be accessed by clicking here.
Members of the class will receive $500 per call, according to the final judgment.
