N.Y. Telemarketers to Pay $250,000 to Settle Pa. Robocall Allegations
Five affiliated Manhattan telemarketing entities agreed to pay Pennsylvania $250,000 to settle allegations they inundated Pennsylvanians with hundreds of thousands of unwanted robocalls (see 2211030056), said a consent petition for final decree filed Thursday (docket 2:22-cv-01551) in U.S. District Court for Western Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh. U.S. District Judge Nicholas Ranjan signed an order Thursday approving the petition and closing the case.
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The parties disclosed in a May 8 joint status report they reached a settlement in principle after several months of negotiation (see 2305090003). The Nov. 2 complaint alleged violations of the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule, plus state and federal unfair competition laws, but not the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, because the five Manhattan entities weren’t alleged to have placed the calls themselves. Then-Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro (D) brought the case six days before he was elected Pennsylvania governor.
The defendants engaged in trade and commerce in Pennsylvania by obtaining and selling consumer data, including data from Pennsylvania consumers, “for purposes of lead generation,” said the petition. The defendants agreed to the entry of the petition “without trial or adjudication of any issue of fact or law and without any admission of wrongdoing,” it said. It’s the defendants’ position that the matters alleged in the complaint “concern practices that are historical in nature and compliant with the law,” it said.
The final decree permanently enjoins the defendants from violations of Pennsylvania’s Consumer Protection Law and other statutes, including the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule, said the petition. The defendants “shall not in any way misrepresent to consumers an affiliation with any product or service” that they don’t have, it said. When seeking consumer data for purposes of sharing with, or sale to, telemarketers, from consumers who have registered their phone numbers either on the national do not call registry or Pennsylvania’s do not call list, the defendants shall obtain an "express agreement in writing" from consumers in compliance with the TSR, it said.
The defendants are barred under the TSR from selling, transferring or sharing any consumer data "for purposes of delivering telemarketing calls with prerecorded messages," said the petition. The defendants shall "clearly and conspicuously" disclose to consumers how, if they consent, their data "may be used or shared with third parties for purposes of lead generation," it said. The defendants also must disclose to consumers that they’re not required “to provide consent to receive telemarketing calls to be eligible to receive or earn any promotional offer or benefit advertised,” it said.