EPIC, NCLC Tell Court Not to Deter Consumers From Unmasking Illegal Callers

EPIC and the National Consumer Law Center filed an amicus brief in Kenneth Johansen vs. Bluegreen Vacations Unlimited arguing that consumers receiving illegal calls must be allowed to feign interest in a telemarketer’s offerings to discover who is responsible for the illegal call campaign. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act protects consumers from several types of unwanted calls, including calls made after placing their residential number on the National Do Not Call Registry, as Johansen did. Consumers can sue companies funding illegal marketing campaigns because the TCPA provides a private right of action. However, EPIC and NCLC explained that companies regularly seek to evade TCPA liability by hiring telemarketers to mass-dial consumers and make offers without naming the company who hired them. The groups argued that the TCPA’s private right of action is less effective if consumers are prevented from using pretextual interest to identify the company funding TCPA violations. EPIC routinely files amicus briefs in Telephone Consumer Protection Act cases.