Smith v. Securus Technologies, Inc.

120 F. Supp. 3d 976, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 101692, 2015 WL 4636696
CourtDistrict Court, D. Minnesota
DecidedAugust 4, 2015
DocketCase No. 15-cv-550 (SRN/HB)
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 120 F. Supp. 3d 976 (Smith v. Securus Technologies, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Smith v. Securus Technologies, Inc., 120 F. Supp. 3d 976, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 101692, 2015 WL 4636696 (mnd 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

SUSAN RICHARD NELSON, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

This matter is before the Court on Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. No. 18] and Plaintiffs’ Motion For Relief Under Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(d) [Doc. No. 35]. For the reasons set forth below,' the Court grants Defendant’s motion, and denies Plaintiffs’ motion.

II. BACKGROUND

A. The Parties and Phone Calls that Plaintiffs Received

Plaintiffs Samantha Smith and Daniel Boyd (collectively “Plaintiffs”) bring this suit against Defendant Securus Technologies, Inc. (“Defendant” or “Securus”) for allegedly contacting Plaintiffs on them cellular telephones without their prior express consent, in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and the Minnesota Automatic Dialing-Announcing Devices Law (ADAD). (See Am. Compl. ¶ 1 [Doc. No. 8].)

Plaintiffs are natural persons who are citizens of the State of Minnesota. (Id. ¶¶ 7-8.) Defendant is a Delaware corporation headquartered in Dallas, Texas. (Id. ¶ 9.) Securus is “a provider of inmate telephone services for over 2,200 correctional facilities, including many in the.State of Minnesota.” (Id. ¶ 10.) Inmates use Sec-urus’s service in order to make outgoing calls from the correctional facilities • at which they are housed.

Plaintiffs allege that “between November 28, 2014, and December 1, 2014, Defendant called each of Plaintiffs’ cellular telephones several times using an automated telephone dialing system.” (Id. ¶ 32.) As part of some of these calls, Plaintiffs claim that Securus “delivered a message using an artificial or prerecorded voice.” (Id. ¶33.) Each call allegedly informed Plaintiffs about the name of the inmate trying to contact them, the name of the correctional facility from which the call was being made, and instructions on how to accept or decline the call. (Id. ¶ 12.) Plaintiffs argue that they did not consent to receiving any of these non-emergency calls. (Id. ¶¶ 36, 43.) And, thus, Plaintiffs contend that the “robocalls” violated the TCPA and the ADAD.

B. Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and Minnesota Automatic Dialing-Announcing Devices Law (ADAD)

Under the TCPA, it is unlawful for any person “to make any call (other than a call made for emergency purposes or made with the prior express consent of the called party) using any automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or [979]*979prerecorded voice ... to any telephone number assigned to a paging service, cellular telephone service, specialized mobile radio service, or other radio common carrier service, or any service for which the called party is charged for the call.” 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(l)(A)(iii). In order to “make” a call, the party must “cause [the call] to exist.” See Black’s Law Dictionary 967 (7th ed.1999) (defining “make” as causing something to exist); see id. (10th ed.2014) (same).

The TCPA further defines the term “automatic telephone dialing system” to mean “equipment which has the capacity (A) to store or produce telephone numbers to be called, using a random or sequential number generator; and (B) to dial such numbers.” Id. § 227(a)(1)(A), (B). The TCPA grants consumers, such as Plaintiffs, a private right of action, with provision for $600 or the actual .monetary loss in damages for each violation, whichever is greater, and treble damages for each willful or knowing violation. Id. § 227(b)(3).

The Minnesota ADAD is “virtually identical” to the TCPA. See Van Bergen v. State of Minn., 59 F.3d 1541, 1548 (8th Cir.1995). According to the ADAD, “[a] caller shall not use or connect to a telephone line an automatic dialing-announcing device unless: (1) the subscriber has knowingly or voluntarily requested, consented to, permitted, or authorized receipt of the message; or (2) the message is immediately preceded by a live operator who ’ obtains the subscriber’s consent before the message is delivered.” Minn.Stat. § 325E.27(a). The ADAD defines “automatic dialing-announcing device” to mean “a device that selects and dials telephone numbers and that, working alone or in conjunction with other equipment, disseminates a prerecorded or synthesized voice message to the telephone number called.” Id. § 325E.26, subd. 2 (emphasis added).

C. Plaintiffs’ Claims

Plaintiffs allege that Defendant, violated the TCPA and the ADAD by making these calls, and brings this action on behalf of (1) themselves; (2) a class of United States persons who similarly received unauthorized “robocalls” from Securus, within four years of the date the Complaint in this case was filed; and (3) a sub-class of Minnesota persons who also received these unauthorized “robocalls,” within six years of the date the Complaint was filed. {See id. ¶¶ 47-61.)

Plaintiffs allege three counts against Securus. In Count I, Plaintiffs claim that Securus negligently violated the TCPA by placing non-emergency telephone calls to Plaintiffs, without their prior express consent, “using an automatic telephone dialing system, or device that has the capacity to store or produce telephone numbers to be called using a random or sequential number generator, and/or using an artificial or prerecorded voice.” {See id. ¶¶ 62-66.) In Count II, Plaintiffs' allege that “despite being well aware of the TCPA’s prohibitions,” Securus placed these “robocalls” in willful violation of the TCPA. {See id. ¶¶ 67-71.) Finally, in-Count III, Plaintiffs claim that Defendant violated the Minnesota ADAD by using “an automatic dialing-announcing device to transmit information to Plaintiffs,” and by using “multiple prerecorded and/or synthesized vóice messages to communicate with Plaintiffs, without Plaintiffs’ consent or a statutory right.” {See id. ¶¶ 72-76.)

D. Procedural Posture

On April 10, 2015, before any discovery was completed in this case, Defendant filed a Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc: No. 18], a supporting brief [Doc. No. 20], and several supporting affidavits and exhibits [Docs. No. 21, 22, 23]. On May 1, 2015, Plaintiffs filed a response brief [Doc. [980]*980No. 30], with supporting affidavits and exhibits [Doc. No. 31, 32, 33]. A few days later, Plaintiffs also filed a Motion For Relief Under Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(d) [Doc. No. 35], with a supporting memorandum [Doc. Ño. 36], arguing that the Court should either deny Defendant’s motion, or, in the alternative, grant a continuance and allow Plaintiffs an opportunity to conduct relevant discovery. On May 14, '2015, Defendant filed a response brief to Plaintiffs’ motion [Doc. No. 45], and a reply brief in relation to its Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. No. 42], The Court heard oral argument on both motions on June 3, 2015. On July 13, 2015, Defendant notified the Court via letter that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released an order that was related to the issues pending in this case.

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Bluebook (online)
120 F. Supp. 3d 976, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 101692, 2015 WL 4636696, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/smith-v-securus-technologies-inc-mnd-2015.