Telephone Consumer Protection Act's unwanted calls provision doesn't include texts, 7th Circuit says
A federal appeals court ruled last week that the federal law allowing people to sue for unwanted marketing calls does not extend to text messages. (Image from Shutterstock)
A federal appeals court ruled last week that the federal law allowing people to sue for unwanted marketing calls does not extend to text messages.
In a July 14 ruling, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Chicago upheld a lower court’s dismissal of a class action lawsuit accusing Blackstone Medical Services of violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
The act provides a private right of action for anyone who has received more than one unwanted telephone call within any 12-month period by or on behalf of the same entity.
In the unanimous decision, the three-judge panel said the act could not be interpreted to include text messages, according to a story by Law.com.
“It’s undisputed that ‘telephone call’ couldn’t have been thought to cover text messages when the TCPA was enacted in 1991 because the first text message was not sent until the following year,” 7th Circuit Judge Thomas Kirsch II wrote for the panel.
Write a letter to the editor, share a story tip or update, or report an error.
