ST. LOUIS — A federal judge has denied a motion to dismiss brought by Farmers Insurance in a proposed class action that asserts violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).
In a ruling issued on Jan. 19, U.S. District Judge Rodney Sippel of the Eastern District of Missouri also ordered defendants to answer lead plaintiff Catherine Gould's amended complaint within 14 days. He further indicated that a scheduling conference would be set in a separate order.
According to the ruling, Gould sued last year complaining that she received approximately 10 unsolicited text messages between May and July from various agents of Farmers who sought to discuss providing insurance quotes.
Gould claimed the messages violate her privacy rights and those of the other class members and constituted an annoying and harassing nuisance. She further claimed that she and other class members wasted time addressing or otherwise responding to the texts.
She also suggested that some class members suffered economic harm by being charged for the text messages.
The TCPA prohibits sending text message solicitations using an automatic telephone dialing system without the prior express written consent of the called party, the ruling states.
While Farmers had argued that Gould had not sufficiently pleaded an injury in fact in order to establish standing, Sippel held that Farmers could be held vicariously liable for the messages.
"When ruling on a motion to dismiss, I must accept as true all factual allegations in the complaint and view them in light most favorable to the Plaintiff," he wrote.
"On the whole, Gould has presented plausible facts demonstrating that Farmers can be held directly or vicariously liable for sending the text message," Sippel wrote. "As a result, Gould’s claim is plausible on its face. For the foregoing reasons, and based upon the record before me, I conclude that Farmers’ motion to dismiss should be denied."