TCPA Lawsuit Says Walgreens Prescription Calls Violate Law

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A Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action lawsuit alleging that Walgreens’ automated calls about refilling prescriptions violate the law is still alive.

Plaintiff Robert Kolinek alleges in his July 2013 TCPA lawsuit that he started receiving “robocalls” to his cell phone from Walgreens in 2012, “prompting him to refill his prescriptions.” He states that he did not consent to receive these calls, and that they breach a provision in the TCPA that makes it unlawful “to make any call (other than a call made for emergency purposes or made with the prior express consent of the called party) using any automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice … to any telephone number assigned to a … cellular telephone service.”

Walgreens made a motion to dismiss the TCPA class action lawsuit based on the statute’s “emergency purposes” and “prior express consent” exceptions. U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly denied Walgreens’ bid to dismiss the claim.

The federal government created the TCPA to protect consumers from uninvited marketing. However, many companies ignore the TCPA, or read the rules differently. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is the agency in charge of interpreting the TCPA. In its interpretation, there is no exception.

This ruling is a turnaround for the TCPA lawsuit, coming one month after Judge Kennelly’s original dismissal of the the robocall lawsuit in February. That’s when the judge granted Walgreens’ bid to dismiss the class action lawsuit, agreeing that Kolinek consented to receiving the calls on his cellphone by voluntarily providing his phone number to the pharmacy. However, in July the judge concurred with the lead plaintiff that the court misinterpreted a FCC order from 1992 that stated “if a consumer gives her cellphone number to a business, she consents to receive calls at that number.” A 2014 order shows that the FCC established “no such rule.”

The TCPA Class Action Lawsuit is Robert Kolinek v. Walgreen Co., Case No. 13 C 4806, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.

UPDATE: Instructions on how to file a claim for the Walgreens TCPA class action settlement are now available! Click here for more information.

UPDATE 2: If you filed a claim for the Walgreens TCPA class action settlement, keep an eye on your mailbox because checks should be arriving no later than May 4, 2016.

UPDATE 3: On May 9, 2016, Top Class Actions readersstarted receiving checks in the mailfrom the Walgreens TCPA settlement worth as much as $27.70.  

TCPA Violations Can Be Costly

Violation of the TCPA is a serious matter. It can carry a $500 fine per violation, and if cell phone subscribers can prove the TCPA violation was intentional, they can sue for up to $1,500 every time a company unlawfully contacted them. This is meant to cover costs and damages, but companies complain that individuals are making these claims in pursuit of money. In a joint amicus brief in November 2013, Twitter and Path Inc. said that more than 1,200 cases were filed last year that “go well beyond the abusive telemarketers originally targeted by the law.” However, as these calls violate privacy, cause aggravation, and cell phone companies charge the consumer for messages received, TCPA class action lawsuits continue to be filed.

Join a Free TCPA Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

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. Obtain a free case evaluation now.