In separate cases, one Illinois federal judge issued several
rulings favorable to Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)
plaintiffs on key issues. One ruling certified classes of
almost 1 million consumers who received automated phone calls, even
though the defendants' records alone were not sufficient to
identify the class members. In a series of rulings in another
case also involving automated calls, the judge refused to dismiss
the case, even though the plaintiff admitted that he gave his
cellular phone number to the defendant.
In the first case, Birchmeier v. Caribbean Cruise Line,
Inc., et al., # 1:12-cv-04069 (U.S. District Court for the
Northern District of Illinois), United States District Judge
Matthew F. Kennelly certified two classes – with a combined
total membership of almost 1 million consumers – who had
received automated calls in alleged violation of the TCPA.
Plaintiffs initially indicated that they had received from
defendants a list of almost
