Lavigne v. First Community Bancshares, Inc.

215 F. Supp. 3d 1138, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 144741, 2016 WL 6305992
CourtDistrict Court, D. New Mexico
DecidedOctober 19, 2016
DocketCivil No. 1:15-cv-00934-WJ-LF
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 215 F. Supp. 3d 1138 (Lavigne v. First Community Bancshares, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. New Mexico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lavigne v. First Community Bancshares, Inc., 215 F. Supp. 3d 1138, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 144741, 2016 WL 6305992 (D.N.M. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS

William P. Johnson, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

THIS MATTER comes before the Court upon Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction, filed September 8, 2016 (Doc. 48). Having reviewed the parties’ briefs and the applicable law, the Court finds that Defendants’ motion is not well-taken and, therefore, is denied.

BACKGROUND

This is a putative class action for relief under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”), 47 U.S.C. § 227. Plaintiff alleges that Defendant First Community Bancshares, Inc., and its subsidiary Defendant First National Bank Texas (“Defendants”) violated the TCPA by placing automated telephone calls to her cellular telephone for nonemergency purposes using an “automatic telephone dialing system” (“ATDS”) as defined by the TCPA, 47 U.S.C. § 227(a)(1).1 Plaintiff seeks relief under the TCPA for herself and all others similarly situated. Defendants deny liability. The amended complaint (Doc. 41) includes general allegations asserted on behalf of the putative class and asserts Violations of the TCPA (Count I) and Willful Violations of the TCPA (Count II).

[1141]*1141DISCUSSION

Article III of the Constitution limits the jurisdiction of federal courts to cases and controversies. U.S. Const. art. III, § 2, cl. 1; Valley Forge Christian College v. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Inc., 454 U.S. 464, 471, 102 S.Ct. 752, 70 L.Ed.2d 700 (1982). The case or controversy limitation requires that a plaintiff have standing. Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 559-61, 112 S.Ct. 2130, 119 L.Ed.2d 351 (1992). The plaintiff bears the burden of establishing the elements of standing. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. at 559-61, 112 S.Ct. 2130. In deciding the issue of standing, the Court must accept as true all well-pleaded facts, and construe all reasonable allegations in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Warth v. Seldin, 422 U.S. 490, 501, 95 S.Ct. 2197, 45 L.Ed.2d 343 (1975). The question of standing is “whether the litigant is entitled to have the court decide the merits of the dispute or of particular issues.” Warth, 422 U.S. at 498, 95 S.Ct. 2197. A plaintiff has standing when (1) she has suffered an injury in fact, (2) there is a causal connection between the injury and the conduct complained of, and (3) it is likely that the injury will be redressed by a favorable judicial decision. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. at 559-61, 112 S.Ct. 2130. An “injury in fact” is an invasion of a legally protected interest that is concrete, particularized, and actual or imminent, not conjectural or hypothetical. Id. These three elements of standing are “an indispensable part of the plaintiffs case,” and thus the plaintiff must support each element “with the manner and degree of evidence required at the successive stages of the litigation.” Id. Because injury-in-fact is a constitutional requirement, Congress “cannot erase Article Ill’s standing requirements by statutorily granting the right to sue to a plaintiff who would not otherwise have standing.” Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, — U.S. —, 136 S.Ct. 1540, 1547-48, 194 L.Ed.2d 635 (2016) (citations omitted) (“Article III standing requires a concrete injury even in the context of a statutory violation”). At this stage in the litigation, a plaintiff must plead the elements of standing in accordance with Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) and Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). “Threadbare recitals of the elements,” which are “supported by mere conclusory statements,” will no longer suffice at the pleadings stage. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937. Plaintiffs claims for standing “do not require detailed factual allegations, but must set forth “more than labels and conclusions, and a. formulaic recitation of the element of a cause of action will not do.” Twombly, at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955.

The private right of action section of the TCPA provides for a separate statutory $500 damage award for each call that violates its provisions.1 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3). Each alleged violation of the TCPA is considered a separate claim, meaning that a plaintiff must establish standing (an injury-in-fact) for each individual call. In other words, for each call Plaintiff must establish an injury in fact as if that was the only TCPA violation alleged in the complaint. Romero v. Department Stores National Bank, 199 F.Supp.3d 1256, 1261-62, 2016 WL 4184099, at *3 (S.D.Cal., 2016).

I. Count I

A. Defendants’ Position

Defendants contend that Plaintiff fails to allege any actual harm as a result of Defendants’ alleged conduct, and thus she cannot show a concrete and particularized injury as required to demonstrate standing to sue in federal court, either as to Count I [1142]*1142or Count II. Defendants appear to recognize that Plaintiff has made a showing of particularized injury, and take issue chiefly with the “concrete” component of an injury. See Doc. 48 at 7 (“... although Defendants’ use of an ATDS to call Plaintiffs cell phone may satisfy the “particular” component, it does not automatically satisfy the requirement that the injury be ‘concrete’”). Plaintiff alleges that Defendants made automated telephone calls to her cell phone, each time without her consent, and the Court finds these allegations sufficiently demonstrate a “particularized” injury. The Court’s analysis therefore focuses on whether Plaintiff has alleged a “concrete” injury for Article III purposes.

Defendant turns to Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins in support of its contention that Plaintiff must alleged more than a statutory violation to show injury-in-fact. — U.S. —, 136 S.Ct. 1540, 1548, 194 L.Ed.2d 635 (2016). In Spokeo, the Supreme Court addressed Article III standing’s “concrete injury” requirement as applied to a plaintiff seeking statutory damages under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”). The court emphasized that an injury-in-fact must be both particularized and concrete, even in the context of a statutory violation. “Particularization” is the requirement that an injury “affect the plaintiff in a personal and individual way” while “concreteness” is “quite different” and requires an injury to be “de facto,” that is, it must actually exist. Id. at 1548.

In Spokeo,

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Bluebook (online)
215 F. Supp. 3d 1138, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 144741, 2016 WL 6305992, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lavigne-v-first-community-bancshares-inc-nmd-2016.