Great American Power Faces Class Action for TCPA Violations

Wendy Schuchmann, a resident of Pennsylvania, has found herself at the center of a legal battle against Great American Power, a company that provides energy plans to consumers. Schuchmann alleges that the company has been making unsolicited telemarketing calls to her cellular phone, leaving pre-recorded voicemails promoting their services - all without her express written consent.

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), a federal law enacted in 1991, prohibits such practices. Under the TCPA, businesses are prohibited from making calls using an automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice to any telephone number assigned to a paging service, cellular telephone service, specialized mobile radio service, or other radio common carrier service, or any service for which the called party is charged for the call, without the prior express consent of the called party.

Schuchmann's complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, states, "Great American Power, LLC violated the TCPA by placing calls using prerecorded voice without prior express consent." This violation, if proven, could lead to statutory damages of $500 per violative telephone call.

But Schuchmann's grievances do not end there. She had registered her phone number on the National Do Not Call Registry, a service designed to give consumers an opportunity to limit the telemarketing calls they receive. Despite this, Great American Power, LLC allegedly continued to call Schuchmann, even after being instructed to stop. The complaint reads, "Despite being on the Do Not Call Registry, the defendant continued to call the plaintiff, even after being instructed to stop." This alleged behavior is in violation of the Do-Not-Call rules, which prohibit initiating telephone solicitations to a registered residential telephone subscriber. If proven, this violation could lead to additional treble damages of $1,500 per violative telephone call.

In her lawsuit, Schuchmann is not only seeking damages for herself but also representing two classes of people who may have been similarly affected. The first class, referred to as the 'Pre-recorded Voice Class', includes all persons in the United States who received calls from Great American Power, LLC that included a pre-recorded message. The second class, the 'Do-Not-Call Registry Class', includes all persons in the United States who received two or more calls from the defendant within a twelve-month period, despite being on the National DNC list.