Court Finds that a Single Unsolicited Phone Sales Message is Sufficient to Confer Standing in Telephone Consumer Protection Act Claims

​​The Third Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that a single unauthorized prerecorded sales voicemail on a plaintiff’s cell phone constitutes a violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), and is sufficient to confer standing. In Susinno v. Work Out World, the plaintiff’s complaint identified a single prerecorded phone message from a fitness club left on her cell phone. In finding that the plaintiff had standing to pursue her claim, the Court held that Congress had identified automated and prerecorded calls as a “nuisance and invasion of privacy.” The phone call constituted the same harm to privacy interests as a common law cause of action for intrusion upon seclusion. This decision constitutes a significant benefit for future plaintiffs, as they no longer need to allege any actual injury resulting from a statutory violation – they merely need to allege that a federal statute, such as TCPA, was violated. At the same time, it will be more difficult for defendants to challenge such claims at the pleadings stage for lack of standing.
 
http://www2.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/163277p.pdf