FCC Petition Leaves United Healthcare Robocall Class Action Lawsuit on Hold

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A growing number of class action lawsuits are seeking damages for consumers based on alleged violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which governs text message spam, robocalls and related communications. However, one case is on hold while the Federal Communications Commission considers issues that arise when a cell phone number is recycled.

The United Healthcare class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of a plaintiff who received ongoing cell phone communications from the health insurance company despite not being a customer. However, the company currently has a petition pending before the FCC regarding what duties firms have to update its information.

That is important, as the federal judge noted, because the company says there should be a difference between a “called party” when a cell phone number is recycled and used by another consumer, something it would have no way of identifying. TCPA class action lawsuit aruges that the precedent should follow that of a Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in Soppett v. Enhanced Recovery Company, in which the “called party” is the current subscriber.

Other judges have leaned more toward the position of companies like United Healthcare, in which the called party is considered the intended recipient, which would give the health insurance firm some leeway in situations like this in avoiding litigation citing violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

The United Healthcare TCPA Class Action Lawsuit is Matlock v. United Healthcare Services Inc., Case No. 13-cv-2206, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California.

If you have dealt with text message spam or robocalls from a company with which you have no commercial relationship, you may be able to pursue damages with the help of one of our partner TCPA class action lawsuit attorneys. See if you qualify now by submitting your information for a free case evaluation by visiting our Text Message Spam, Unwanted Cell Phone Calls TCPA Class Action Lawsuit Settlement Investigation.