District Court (Wis) Says How To Calculate TCPA Damages Where There Are Multiple Statutory Damages Per Call

Default establishes defendants’ liability for the TCPA violations alleged in Cunningham’s complaint, so the analysis must next turn to damages. The TCPA allows for $500 in damages for each violation of certain statutory provisions. Cunningham indicated in an affidavit that he received 176 phone calls from defendants and that those phone calls violated § 227(b) and 227(c)(5) of the TCPA, as well as three regulations prescribed under § 227(c), 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(b)(1), (b)(2), and (d).  Those few courts to have considered the question have determined that a plaintiff may recover multiple statutory damages awards per phone call when the phone call violates multiple statutory provisions of the TCPA, but a plaintiff may only recover one statutory damages award per phone call even if the phone call violates multiple regulations prescribed under § 227(c). See Drew v. Lexington Consumer Advocacy, LLC, No. 16-cv-200, 2016 WL 1559717, at *12 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 18, 2016). Under this framework, Cunningham may recover $1,000 per phone call because each phone call violated two statutory provisions of the TCPA.