This week, the Ninth Circuit addresses whether text messages can violate the Telephone Consumer Protection Act's prohibition on "prerecorded voice" messages, and it considers whether debtors who paid statutory fees under an unconstitutionally nonuniform bankruptcy provision are entitled to a refund.
TRIM v. REWARD ZONE USA LLC
The Court hold that text messages are not "prerecorded voice messages" within the meaning of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).
The panel: Judges N.R. Smith, Lee, and VanDyke, with Judge N.R. Smith writing the opinion.
Key highlight: "Trim fails to provide any evidence that Congress intended an idiosyncratic definition, and we presume Congress intended to legislate the primary meaning of voice, which requires an audible component." (Citations and quotation marks omitted)
Background: Plaintiff Lucine Trim received at least three text messages with links to a promotional website from defendant Reward Zone. Trim responded by suing Reward Zone on behalf of a putative nationwide class. She alleged that Reward Zone had violated the TCPA by sending her automated messages with a "prerecorded voice." 47 U.S.C. ' 227(b)(1)(A). The district court granted Reward Zone's motion to dismiss, concluding that the text messages could not be "prerecorded voice messages."
Result: The Ninth Circuit affirmed, holding that "Congress clearly intended 'voice' in 47 U.S.C. ' 227(b)(1)(A) to...
