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District Court (Cal.) Grants Summary Judgment to GroupMe on TCPA Claim; Says GroupMe’s Members Who Trigger GroupMe’s Software to Send the Text to Other GroupMe Members Counts as the “Human Intervention” to Distinguish TCPA-Regulated ATDSs

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Glauser v. GroupMe, Inc., 2015 WL 475111 (N.D.Cal. 2015), Judge Hamilton found that GroupMe's business model did not trigger or violate the TCPA because the software that sent the text was triggered by GroupMe's customers and, therefore, there was "human intervention". This putative class action arises under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”), which prohibits the making of any call (including… Read More

District Court (Cal.) Says Failure to Plead Absence of Human Intervention in ATDS Allegation Dooms TCPA Case

by Scott J. Hyman |

In McKenna v. WhisperText, 2015 WL 428728 (N.D.Cal. 2015), Judge Grewal found that a TCPA plaintiff pleaded himself out of a TCPA claim because there was no allegation of an absence of human intervention. A little over a year ago, Plaintiff Tony McKenna got a text he did not expect from “16502412157.” The text was an invitation to download the… Read More

District Court (Pa.) Says TCPA Defendant Used ATDS Because No Human Intervention Was Required

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Morse v. Allied Interstate, LLC, --- F.Supp.3d ----, 2014 WL 7004036 (M.D.Pa. 2014),  Judge Nealon granted Plaintiffs' Motion for Partial Summary Judgment on a TCPA case, finding that the defendant had used an ATDS. Here, the parties agree there was no human intervention at the time the calls were placed. The calls were made without a human contemporaneously dialing the number… Read More

District Court (Wash.) Finds Taxi Company’s Text-Message Dialer Technology was not an ATDS under the TCPA Because Some Human Intervention was Required

by Scott J. Hyman |

Yes, you read it right. In Gragg v. Orange Cab Co., Inc., --- F.Supp.2d ----, 2014 WL 494862 (W.D.Wash. 2014), Judge Lasnik held that a TCPA did not use an ATDS within the meaning of the TCPA.  The facts were as follows: Defendant Orange Cab Company, Inc. (Orange Cab) utilizes TaxiMagic, a Ridecharge, Inc. product, as a means of remaining… Read More

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