Junk Faxes To Go For Record Making $1.8 Million Class Action Settlement
The class action lawsuit over the Junk Faxes has reached the settlement worth $1.8 million. It is reported to be the largest ever telemarketing settlement in Massachusetts so far. Framingham-based consumer attorney Matthew P. McCue, filed the case in 2002. He told the media that he can never expect his efforts to enforce the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) on unsolicited fax advertisements would evolve into such a complex legal battle. Challenges to the class action suit included issues of statutory interpretation, class certification, jurisdiction, free speech and insurance technicalities.
The lawsuit charges that New Jersey estate auction business called Metropolitan Antiques sent out approximately 360,000 unsolicited faxes between 2001 and 2003, advertising estate sales to doctors, accountants and lawyers in Massachusetts. In December 2002, McCue and Boston attorney Edward A. Broderick filed a complaint on behalf of Fray-Witzer, claiming Metropolitan Antiques had violated the TCPA, which prohibits telemarketing via unsolicited faxes and allows for penalties of $500 to $1,500 per violation. In the course of litigation, the case split into two: a dispute over the alleged TCPA violations and a battle over how Metropolitan would pay for those violations. In the long and complex litigation over the application of the TCPA, van Gestel denied a series of motions defending the junk faxes on grounds that ranged from international commerce to the exercise of free speech.
The proposed settlement demands for a website, www.metrojunkfaxsettlement.com, where potential class members can instantly determine whether they are entitled to any money. Class members can receive their money simply by filling out a form. Of the proposed $1.8 million settlement, nearly $1 million is expected to go to the class after the subtracted cost. But if they are successful in finding many of the hundreds of thousands of class members, the size of the payout could drop to only a few dollars per claimant.
As far the settlement is concerned, the burden of the cost will be paid by the insurance agencies. On the other hand, insurance companies like Terra Nova Insurance Co. and Royal & SunAlliance USA are trying to prove that that they were not required to indemnify Metropolitan for violating the TCPA. The lawyers who represented the insurers, John P. Graceffa and Michael F. Aylward, both of Morrison Mahoney in Boston, however, declined to comment on the case.
Source: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly
Filed under Class Action, Settlements
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