The Seventh Circuit overruled its longstanding prior precedent
in an opinion issued on August 6, 2015, in Chapman v. First
Index, Inc., No. 09 C 5555 (7th Cir. 2015). With this ruling,
the Seventh Circuit joined the Second and Ninth Circuits in holding
that a defendant's offer of full compensation does not render
the case moot.
In Chapman, individual plaintiff, Arnold Chapman, sued
defendant First Index, Inc. under the Telephone Consumer Protection
Act ("TCPA"), 47 U.S.C. 227, on behalf of himself and a
proposed class of persons who had improperly received faxes from
First Index. Following the district court's denial of
Chapman's motion to certify a class, First Index made an offer
of judgment under Rule 68 that exceeded Chapman's demand. After
Chapman allowed the offer to lapse, First Index moved to dismiss
Chapman's individual claim as moot. The court granted that
motion in accordance with the law of the Seventh Circuit.
