Legg v. Voice Media Group, Inc.

990 F. Supp. 2d 1351, 2014 WL 29594, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 483
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedJanuary 3, 2014
DocketCase No. 13-62044-CIV
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 990 F. Supp. 2d 1351 (Legg v. Voice Media Group, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Legg v. Voice Media Group, Inc., 990 F. Supp. 2d 1351, 2014 WL 29594, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 483 (S.D. Fla. 2014).

Opinion

ORDER DENYING MOTION TO DISMISS

JAMES I. COHN, District Judge.

THIS CAUSE is before the Court upon Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss [DE 9] (“Motion”). The Court has considered the Motion, Plaintiffs Opposition [DE 16], Defendant’s Reply [DE 23], and Plaintiffs Surreply [DE 29], and is otherwise advised in the premises.

I. BACKGROUND

This putative class action arises from the allegedly improper transmission of text messages by Defendant Voice Media Group, Inc. (‘VMG”). VMG operates text alert services which transmit text messages to the cell phones of consumers across the country. DE 1 ¶¶ 19, 32. Plaintiff Christopher Legg alleges that he subscribed to VMG’s services in 2012 and early 2013. Id. ¶¶ 20-25. In July 2013, however, Legg had second thoughts about receiving text messages from VMG, and sought to unsubscribe from VMG’s services by sending the message “STOP” to VMG. Id. ¶26. VMG responded by instructing Legg to reply “STOP ALL,” or “STOP” in combination with a number of other options, to stop receiving text messages. Id. ¶ 26. Legg sent the message “STOP ALL” and other similar messages to VMG, but VMG continued to send text messages to Legg through the commencement of this action in September 2013. Id. ¶¶ 27-30.

Legg filed the Complaint herein on September 20, 2013, for violations of the Tele[1353]*1353phone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”), 47 U.S.C. § 227, on the basis of VMG’s alleged practice of sending unwanted text messages. DE 1 ¶¶ 43-50. VMG has in turn moved to dismiss for failure to state a claim pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. DE 9.

II. LEGAL STANDARD

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), a court shall grant a motion to dismiss where, based upon a dispositive issue of law, the factual allegations of the complaint cannot support the asserted cause of action. Glover v. Liggett Group, Inc., 459 F.3d 1304, 1308 (11th Cir.2006) (per curiam). “Factual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level .... ” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). Thus, a complaint must contain “sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’ ” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955).

A complaint must be liberally construed, assuming the facts alleged therein as true and drawing all reasonable inferences from those facts in the plaintiffs favor. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955. A complaint should not be dismissed simply because the court is doubtful that the plaintiff will be able to prove all of the necessary factual allegations. Id. A wellpled complaint will survive a motion to dismiss “even if it appears that a recovery is very remote and unlikely.” Id. at 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955 (internal quotation marks omitted). Nevertheless, a plaintiff must provide “more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.” Id. at 555,127 S.Ct. 1955.

III. DISCUSSION

VMG moves to dismiss on two grounds. First, VMG contends that Legg has failed to plead that VMG used an automatic telephone dialing system, which is a requirement of Legg’s TCPA claim. Second, VMG argues that Legg cannot bring a claim upon text messages from VMG because Legg consented to receive the messages. The Court rejects each of VMG’s arguments, as Legg has sufficiently pled both that VMG used an automatic telephone dialing system and that he revoked his consent to receive messages from VMG.

A. Legg Has Sufficiently Pled the Use of an Automatic Telephone Dialing System

VMG contends that Legg has failed to state a claim for a TCPA violation because he has not pled VMG’s use of an automatic telephone dialing system. DE 9 at 2-3. VMG’s argument boils down to a conclusory assertion that, because Legg provided his phone number to VMG, Legg’s allegation that VMG used an automatic telephone dialing system is “frivolous.” Id. at 3. Whether Legg provided his phone number to VMG is of questionable relevance to Legg’s task of pleading the sort of equipment used by VMG. Moreover, the Court finds that Legg has stated sufficient facts to plead VMG’s use of an automatic telephone dialing system.

The TCPA provides that:

It shall be unlawful for any person within the United States ... to make any call ... using any automatic telephone dialing system ... to any telephone number assigned to a ... cellular telephone service ....

47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(l)(A)(iii). An automatic telephone dialing system is “equipment [1354]*1354which has the capacity ... to store or produce telephone numbers to be called, using a random or sequential number generator!,] and ... to dial such numbers.” Id. § 227(a)(1). These provisions apply with equal force to conventional telephone calls and text messages, as a text message qualifies as a “call” within the meaning of the TCPA. Satterfield v. Simon & Schuster, Inc., 569 F.3d 946, 954 (9th Cir.2009).

In his Complaint, Legg alleges that VMG operates its text alert services by sending mass text messages via an automatic telephone dialing system known as an “auto-dialer” or “predictive dialer.” DE 1 ¶¶ 32-33, 36. VMG sends these mass messages from a “short code,” which is a type of telephone number typically used by companies to communicate with large numbers of consumers. Id. ¶¶ 11, 19, 32-33, 36. Legg supports his allegations of VMG’s mass messaging by reference to VMG’s presence in over 50 major metropolitan areas and voluminous consumer complaints about text messages received from VMG’s short code. Id. ¶¶ 31-32. Legg contends that such mass messaging would be impracticable without the use of an automatic telephone dialing system. Id. ¶ 32. The Court finds these factual, allegations of mass messaging from VMG’s short code that could only be achieved via an automatic telephone dialing system sufficient to support a reasonable inference that VMG has used such a system. See Robbins v. Cocca-Cola Co., No. 13-132, 2013 WL 2252646, at *2-3, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 72725, at *6-8 (S.D.Cal. May 22, 2013) (factual allegations of mass messaging sufficient to plead use of automatic telephone dialing system). Legg has therefore sufficiently pled VMG’s use of an automatic telephone dialing system to withstand a motion to dismiss. See Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955.

B.

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Bluebook (online)
990 F. Supp. 2d 1351, 2014 WL 29594, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 483, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/legg-v-voice-media-group-inc-flsd-2014.