In May 2016, three plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit against Rash Curtis & Associates, a debt collection agency. The plaintiffs alleged that between June 2015 and March 2016, Rash Curtis used repeated pre-recorded voice messages and auto-dialed calls to the plaintiffs’ cellphones, without the prior express written consent of the recipients, in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 USC § 227 et seq. The plaintiffs also claimed that Rash Curtis’ calls violated federal and state fair debt collection laws.
On May 13, 2019, a jury awarded each member of the class $500 per call made in violation of the TCPA, and on September 9, 2019 the US District Court for the Northern District of California issued a final judgment awarding the plaintiff class $267,349,000.