On June 1, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling in Dickson v. Direct Energy, LP, holding that the plaintiff’s claims that he received a single ringless voicemail (RVM) for commercial purposes satisfy the demands...more
As discussed here, D.K. et al. v. United Behavioral Health et al. is a case that has been carefully watched in the health benefits space for its potential to change what health plan administrators must include in adverse...more
The Sixth Circuit recently affirmed a district court’s dismissal of a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and Michigan Regulation of Collection Practices Act (RCPA) suit, holding that the plaintiff lacked standing. The...more
On May 10, Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal issued an opinion in Pet Supermarket, Inc. v. Eldridge, holding that the plaintiff and putative class representative lacked standing to pursue his class action lawsuit under...more
On May 2, the Florida legislature passed amendments to the Florida Telephone Solicitation Act (FTSA) that would drastically narrow its scope and presumably cut down on the number of class actions filed pursuant to it. The...more
As discussed here, on April 7, the Washington State legislature passed HB 1051, also known as the Robocall Scam Protection Act, expanding the scope of existing provisions of Washington’s consumer protection laws regulating...more
On April 13, the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion affirming a district court’s summary judgment order on the grounds that under Borden v. eFinancial, LLC, discussed here, to qualify as an automatic telephone dialing system...more
As discussed here, administrators’ health plan benefit denial letters have recently been under scrutiny by the courts. For example, in D.K. et al. v. United Behavioral Health et al., the Tenth Circuit is reviewing a district...more
On April 7, the Washington State legislature passed HB 1051, also known as the Robocall Scam Protection Act, which expands the scope of existing provisions of Washington’s consumer protection laws regulating robocalls and...more
In a recent decision, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania granted summary judgment in a Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) case where a bank promptly corrected inaccurate mortgage payment...more
On April 4, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas declined to increase or treble the plaintiff’s $8,500 jury trial damages awarded under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) after failing to find...more
A federal district court in the Western District of New York recently denied in part a motion for summary judgment in a case alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) based on collection calls and...more
A federal magistrate judge in Rhode Island has ruled that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) must produce three employees for depositions, denying the agency’s motion for a protective order....more
On March 16, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted its first set of regulations targeting what is perceived as the increasing problem of scam text messages sent to consumers. The first rule requires mobile...more
In recent years, several lawsuits have challenged wilderness therapy program exclusions in health plans. Not only do members typically assert a claim for benefits, alleging a denial of wilderness therapy benefits was improper...more
In a class action lawsuit against Pisa Group, Inc. for alleged violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the plaintiff moved to certify a class of all persons in the United States who received more than one...more
As discussed here, on July 27, 2022, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals sua sponte vacated the district court’s approval of a $35 million class-action settlement in Drazen and Godaddy.com, LLC (Godaddy) v. Pinto. Although...more
On February 27, Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon signed into law House Bill 284, which requires debt buyers be licensed as “collection agencies” starting July 1, 2023....more
Recently, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals held an arbitration provision impermissibly blocked rights afforded to a retirement plan participant under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and was therefore...more
As the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) considers whether DentalPlans.com’s (DentalPlans) plan renewal calls constitute telemarketing under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), multiple interested parties,...more
On January 19, a California Court of Appeals issued a decision calling into question the evidentiary value of electronic signatures. Dicta in the opinion directly contradicts a previous ruling in Gamboa v. Northeast Community...more
On February 1, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a final rule strengthening their authority to recover alleged overpayments made to Medicare Advantage plans. The rule formalizes the Medicare...more
As previously reported here, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a proposed rule specifying that to be exempt from the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s (TCPA) consent requirements callers would be limited to...more
As previously reported here, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a proposed rule in December 2020 that would place new call-frequency limitations and opt-out requirements on certain prerecorded...more
In October 2022, the Tenth Circuit heard oral argument in D.K. et al. v. United Behavioral Health et al., a case that could significantly impact what health plans must include in any notification to claimants of an adverse...more