The Eleventh Circuit has joined the Second in holding that consent to be called using an autodialer and/or prerecorded messages, given as part of a contract, cannot be unilaterally withdrawn. Medley v. DISH Network, LLC, 2020 WL 2092594 (11th Cir. May 1, 2020). Linda Medley entered into a 24-month agreement with DISH Network to receive…
Author: Valerie Sanders
Eleventh Circuit Will Not Rehear City’s Fair Housing Act Claim
The Eleventh Circuit has denied a petition to rehear en banc City of Miami Gardens v. Wells Fargo & Co., 931 F.3d 1274 (11th Cir. 2019), which dismissed for lack of standing Fair Housing Act claims brought against Wells Fargo by the City of Miami Gardens. City of Miami Gardens v. Wells Fargo & Co.,…
Oral Arguments to Be Live-Streamed
The Eleventh Circuit’s General Order No. 45 authorizes panels to hear argument by audio or teleconference, rather than in person, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting safety precautions. The arguments will be live-streamed to the public, at no charge, to the extent feasible (and not in cases that would not otherwise be argued…
Foundry Employees’ Action is a “Mass Action” Subject to Removal Under the Class Action Fairness Act
The Eleventh Circuit has clarified the scope of the “local event exception” to the federal-court jurisdiction over “mass actions” conferred by the Class Action Fairness Act (“CAFA”), holding that claims by former foundry employees against manufacturers and distributors of products used at the foundry are not within the exception. Spencer v. Specialty Foundry Prods. Inc.,…
Eleventh Circuit Restricts Physical Access to Courthouse, Provides Exemption from Paper Filing
The Eleventh Circuit’s General Order No. 44 (March 15, 2020) provides that: • Access to the Tuttle Courthouse and Godbold Building is restricted to judges, Court staff, members of the media, and visitors with official Court business; • Paper filings are to be made by delivery to the Court’s dropbox at the Godbold Building’s entrance…
Eleventh Circuit Holds That TCPA’s Definition of “Automatic Telephone Dialing System” Requires Use of Random or Sequential Number Generator
Addressing a question that has divided courts in a decision that will substantially affect the scope of liability under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”), the Eleventh Circuit has held that equipment is not an “automatic telephone dialing system” under the TCPA unless the equipment employs random or sequential number generation and requires no human…
Automobile Insurer’s “Lessor Liability Endorsement” Is Not Illusory
An automobile insurer’s “Lessor Liability Endorsement” is not illusory, notwithstanding the fact that federal law bars claims of vicarious liability against vehicle lessors, because the endorsement imposes upon the insurer a duty to defend lessors against vicarious liability claims. Hallums v. Infinity Ins. Co., 2019 WL 6872507 (11th Cir. Dec. 17, 2019). The plaintiffs entered…
Class Action Seeking Reinstatement of Life Insurance Policies Was Properly Removed to Federal Court
In Anderson v. Wilco Life Ins. Co., 2019 WL 6242199 (11th Cir. Nov. 22, 2019), the Eleventh Circuit reversed the district court’s order remanding to state court a putative class action against a life insurance company. The case had been properly removed under the Class Action Fairness Act (“CAFA”), the appeals court held, because the…
Court Revives Claim Challenging Use of “Available Balance” Rather than “Ledger Balance” to Assess Overdraft Fees, Finding Contracts Ambiguous
Carol Tims filed a putative class action against LGE Community Credit Union, claiming that the bank breached its contract with her, and violated the federal Electronic Fund Transfer Act (“EFTA”), when it charged overdraft fees based on Tims’s “available balance”—which took into account pending debits—rather than her “ledger balance,” which did not. The district court…
Judge Tjoflat to Take Senior Status
Judge Gerald B. Tjoflat, the longest-serving federal judge in active service, has announced his intention to take senior status. Judge Tjoflat was appointed to the federal bench by President Nixon and to the then-Fifth Circuit by President Ford. In 1995, the Duke Law Journal published this tribute to Judge Tjoflat by Chief Justice Rehnquist, among…