Around February of 2010, the complaint for this class action alleges, plaintiff Lynn Laing began receiving autodialed calls from Wells Fargo on both her cell phone and her landline—calls that were not for her but for someone named Ruth Phillips. Even though Laing repeatedly told them that she was not Ruth Phillips, the calls did not stop.
Two classes and a subclass have been outlined for this action.
- The No Consent Class is all persons within the US who received a call on their cell phones from Wells Fargo or its agents that was made using the same or a similar system to call Laing, between October 9, 2013 and October 9, 2017.
- The No Written Consent Subclass is all persons within the US who received a call on their cell phones from Wells Fargo or its agents that was made using any automated telephone dialing system and/or an artificial or prerecorded voice, between October 9, 2013 and October 9, 2017.
- The Do Not Call List Class is all persons within the US who received more than one call from Wells Fargo or its agents during a twelve-month period, between October 9, 2013 and October 9, 2017, where Wells Fargo or its agent’s records show that the persons previously stated that they did not wish to receive calls from Wells Fargo.
The complaint for this class action alleges that the calls to Laing were made in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). Congress passed the TCPA because consumers were receiving more and more unwanted calls from companies for telemarketing and debt collection purposes. New technology made it possible for companies to call thousands of consumers multiple times with very little expense or trouble to themselves, and Congress believed that the only remedy was to forbid the calls entirely.
The complaint alleges that the calls violated the TCPA in several ways. First, Wells Fargo called Laing’s cell phone as well as her landline, and Laing claims to have heard a click after she picked up, indicating that the call was made using an automatic dialing system. The TCPA forbids calls to consumer cell phones made with automatic dialing systems.
Second, the complaint asserts that Laing’s landline was on the National Do Not Call Registry, so that more than one call to that number within a year would also be a violation of the law.
Third, the complaint claims that Laing picked up over 90 of the approximately 120 calls Wells Fargo made to her, and she repeatedly asked the company not to call her. At that point, Wells Fargo should have put her on their internal Do Not Call List.
Fourth, the complaint says, at no time had Laing ever given her number to Wells Fargo or given them her prior written consent to make such calls to her. The TCPA requires that companies obtain consumers’ “prior express written consent” to calls made to their cell phone numbers.
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Consumer
Most Recent Case Event
Wells Fargo Wrong Number and Do Not Call Registry TCPA Class Action
October 9, 2017
Around February of 2010, the complaint for this class action alleges, plaintiff Lynn Laing began receiving autodialed calls from Wells Fargo on both her cell phone and her landline—calls that were not for her but for someone named Ruth Phillips. Even though Laing repeatedly told them that she was not Ruth Phillips and that she did not want to receive further calls from Wells Fargo, the calls did not stop. The complaint alleges that the company’s approximately 120 calls violated the TCPA in several ways.
wells_fargo_tcpa_complaint.pdfCase Event History
Wells Fargo Wrong Number and Do Not Call Registry TCPA Class Action
October 9, 2017
Around February of 2010, the complaint for this class action alleges, plaintiff Lynn Laing began receiving autodialed calls from Wells Fargo on both her cell phone and her landline—calls that were not for her but for someone named Ruth Phillips. Even though Laing repeatedly told them that she was not Ruth Phillips and that she did not want to receive further calls from Wells Fargo, the calls did not stop. The complaint alleges that the company’s approximately 120 calls violated the TCPA in several ways.
wells_fargo_tcpa_complaint.pdf