Brodsky v. Humanadental Insurance Co.

269 F. Supp. 3d 841
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedAugust 28, 2017
DocketCase No. 10-cv-03233
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 269 F. Supp. 3d 841 (Brodsky v. Humanadental Insurance Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brodsky v. Humanadental Insurance Co., 269 F. Supp. 3d 841 (N.D. Ill. 2017).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

. John Robert Blakey, Judge

Plaintiff Lawrence Brodsky (Plaintiff or Brodsky) claims'that Defendant Humana-Dental Insurance Coiripany (Defendant or HDIC) improperly sent him- two faxes in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), 47 U.S.C. § 227 et seq. This Court previously certified a class of similarly-situated recipients in September 2016. [349] at 28.

Currently pending before the Court' are Defendant’s Motion to Decertify the Class and To Stay [365] and Plaintiffs Motion For Order Approving Class Notice and Setting A Date For Opt Outs, [371] at 1-4. As explained below, Defendant’s motion is granted, and Plaintiffs motion is denied as moot.

I. Background

A brief overview of the TCPA, the facts, and this case’s procedural posture is provided below. This discussion is not exhaustive, and this Court incorporates by reference as needed, and presumes familiarity with, both Judge Thomas Durkin’s opinion regarding HDIC’s previous motion for summary judgment [189] and this Court’s opinion regarding class certification. See generally [349].

A. The Solicited Fax Rule

The TCPA provides that a “person or entity” may bring an “action based on a violation of this [statute] or the regulations prescribed under” the same. 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3). The statute itself generally prohibits sending an “unsolicited advertisement” via fax. Id. § 227(b)(1)(C). A fax is “unsolicited” if the recipient has not given its “prior express invitation or permission” to receive the fax. Id. § 227(a)(5).

The statute also provides select exceptions to this general ban by permitting the sending of unsolicited faxes if, among other things, the fax contains an “opt-out notice” meeting .various statutory requirements. Id. § 227(b)(l)(C)(i)-(iii). To be clear, the TCPA only imposes an opt-out notice requirement for “unsolicited” fax advertisements; it does not address solicited fax advertisements.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), pursuant to its authority to “prescribe regulations to implement the requirements of’ the TCPA, id. § 227(b)(2), altered this landscape in 2006 by promulgating the “Solicited Fax Rule,” codified at 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(a)(4)(iv). Under the Solicited Fax Rule, both unsolicited and solicited faxes must include the opt-out notice described in the TCPA. See id. (“A facsimile advertisement that is sent to a recipient that has provided prior express invitation or permission to the sender must include an opt-out notice that complies-with the requirements in paragraph (a)(4)(iii) of this section.”); see also Bais Yaakov of Spring Valley, et al. v. FCC, et al., 852 F.3d 1078, 1083 (D.C. Cir. 2017) (“The Solicited Fax Rule requires a sender of a fax advertisement to include' an opt-out notice on the advertisement, even when the advertisement is sent to a recipient from whom the sender obtained permission, In other words, the FCC’s new [843]*843rule mandates that senders of solicited faxes comply with a statutory requirement that applies only to senders of unsolicited faxes.”) (internal citation omitted); Nack v. Walburg, 715 F.3d 680, 685 (8th Cir. 2013) (“Setting aside any concerns regarding the validity of [the Solicited Fax Rule] or the scope of the private right of action, we believe that the regulation as written requires the senders of fax advertisements to employ the above-described opt-out language even if the sender received prior express permission to send the fax.").

B. Factual Context1

Plaintiff Brodsky is a “wholesaler of insurance” who does business as a sole proprietorship known as .the Lawrence S. Brodsky Agency, Inc. (LSB Agency). Defendant HDIC is a Wisconsin corporation that insures certain dental plans, including the HumanaDental Prevention Plus plan, the HumanaDental PPO, and Traditional Preferred Plans. “Humana Specialty Benefits,” a group within Humana Inc., markets “specialty products,” including dental, vision, life insurance and disability products.

Brodsky and the LSB Agency have “market agreements” with numerous insurance companies. Brodsky then sells those insurance companies’ products through various insurance agents/independent contractors. One of Brodsky’s market agreements was with “Humana Insurance Company, Humana Health Plan, Inc., and all of their affiliates.” That agreement is known as a “Group Producing Agent or Agency Contract.” This Agency Contract stipulated that Brodsky and the LSB Agency agreed that Humana Insurance Co. and all of its affiliates “may choose to communicate with [Brodsky and/or the LSB Agency] through the use of ... facsimile to the ;.. facsimile numbers of’ Brodsky and the LSB Agency. In connection with his Agency Contract, Brodsky provided Humana Insurance Co. with the facsimile number of (847) 991-0152.

On May 14, 2008, Brodsky’s fax machine assigned to the number of (847) 991-0152 received two identical one-page fax messages (the Subject Faxes). The bottom of the Subject Faxes indicated' that they were sent by “Humana Specialty Benefits.” There is no dispute that the Subject Faxes were created by the Marketing Department of Humana Inc., and received the internal designation GN-Fax 4/08. The Subject Faxes do not identify the individual or entity to which they were specifically sent. At least seven of Brodsky’s insurance agents/independent contractors had permission to use (and did in fact use) Brod-sky’s office space and fax machine during the time period at issue. The parties have stipulated that faxes identical to the Sub: ject Faxes (similarly designated GN-Fax 4/08) were successfully transmitted 19,931 times. [285] Ex. 21, ¶20.

C. Procedural Posture

In its first motion for summary judgment] HDIC argued that it did not “send” the Subject Faxes, the Subject Faxes were not “sent” to Plaintiff, the Subject Faxes were not “advertisements,” and Plaintiff had consented to delivery of the Subject Faxes. [118] at 1-5. Defendant’s motion for summary judgment was denied as to Plaintiffs TCPA claim. [189] at 12-23. HDIC moved for reconsideration of that ruling [199], which was also denied. [212] at 3-9. In the course of ruling on both HDlC’s motion for summary judgment and motion for reconsideration, Judge Durkin ulti[844]*844mately determined, among other things, that:

(1) Whether the Subject Faxes were “advertisements” within the meaning of the TCPA is a disputed factual question, [189] at 16-18;
(2) Whether HDIC was a “sender” of the Subject Faxes within the meaning of the TCPA is a disputed factual question, id. at 13-16;
(3) The opt-out notices on the Subject Faxes were deficient as a matter of law under the Solicited Fax Rule, thereby precluding Defendant from raising defenses sounding in solicitation or “established business relationship,” id.

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Bluebook (online)
269 F. Supp. 3d 841, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brodsky-v-humanadental-insurance-co-ilnd-2017.