Sprint Compels Arbitration In TCPA Class Action

On Monday of this week, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that a putative class action complaint filed against Sprint alleging that it had violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act ("TCPA") must be submitted to arbitration. The appellate court overturned a prior ruling of the district court which refused to compel arbitration. In doing so, Sprint overcame the plaintiffs' argument that arbitration was not mandatory because the offending calls were unrelated to Sprint's contract with the plaintiffs. The appellate court disagreed with plaintiff's position and, as such, inherently granted Sprint an ability to defeat the potential class action status of the claim by compelling arbitration.