A U.S. federal judge has ruled that a potential class action against two firms that handle Camp Lejeune lawsuits may proceed, overruling arguments that there is no jurisdiction for the cases to be filed. The plaintiffs allege that Principal Law Group LLC and Levin, Papantonio, Rafferty, Proctor, Buchanan, O’Brien, Barr & Mougey PA violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) by illicitly soliciting cases from people on the do not call list according to Law360.
The TCPA exists to protect consumers from making auto-dialers and automated voice calls. The TCPA includes clauses that make it illegal to “initiate any telephone call to any residential telephone line using an artificial or prerecorded voice to deliver a message without the prior express consent of the called party, unless the call is initiated for emergency purposes or is exempted by rule or order.” Relevant to these cases, the TCPA explicitly forbids automated calls to be made to individuals who place themselves on the do-not-call registry.
Plaintiff Mey claims that by being cold-called by an autonomous message claiming to be represented by both Principal and Levin Papantonio, both firms violated the TCPA and she is entitled to damages suffered due to the illegal behavior. U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey has denied the motions of Principal and Levin Papantonio to dismiss Mey’s case. The firms claimed that since the plaintiff, Diana Mey, lives in West Virginia, there was a fundamental lack of jurisdiction to bring a class-action lawsuit against the firms. Principal is based in Maryland and Levin Papantonio is based in Florida.
Judge Bailey is quoted as saying “At this stage of litigation, plaintiff has provided sufficient facts for this court to reasonably infer that Principal Law is directly responsible for the telemarketing calls or that the calls were made by a vendor under Principal Law’s control.” Based on the Judge’s examination of the current facts, there is enough evidence to plausibly connect the plaintiff to the firms and the judge will allow the case to proceed.
If you or a loved one have been injured by the Camp Lejeune water contamination, you may be eligible for financial compensation. Contact MedTruth today for a free, no-obligation case review and begin your journey to justice.
