Washington Federal Judge Denies Motion to Dismiss TCPA Class Action Case

A Washington State federal judge denies defendant’s motion to dismiss in a class action lawsuit case alleging TCPA violations after determining that previous state law claims on class limits does not affect federal law. The case is called Samson v. United HealthCare Services Inc., case number 2:19-cv-00175, currently located in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

In January 2019, Shub & Johns, alongside co-counsel, filed a class action lawsuit against United HealthCare Services, Inc. (“United”), alleging that United HealthCare had violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Plaintiffs alleged that consumers were receiving unwanted automated calls from United despite either not being an insured member of United’s services OR being flagged or listed within United’s own records that those consumers requested to not be contacted.

In October 2023, the Washington Court granted Plaintiff’s Motion for class certification, certifying the two previously mentioned classes: The Wrong Number Class and the Do-Not-Call Class. For more information on the class certification ruling, see our previous report on the matter.

In November 2023, Defendant United filed a motion to dismiss Plaintiffs TCPA claims for a nationwide class, arguing that previous Supreme Court Rulings in state court tort matters held that the court lacked jurisdiction over non-state class members. However, on February 29, 2024, Judge Marsha J. Pechman denied Defendant’s motion to dismiss, indicating that the state court claims for mass tort cases do not apply to federal court claims in class action cases. A hearing will be held in April 2024 to discuss the current status of the case between parties.