Deadline Looms for Comcast to Answer TCPA Complaint in Minn.

Comcast faces a Wednesday deadline to answer a Minnesota complaint that it violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act under a deadline extension order signed Oct. 3 by U.S. Magistrate Judge Leo Brisbois in Duluth. Comcast filed notice Sept. 28 to move to U.S. District Court in St. Paul (docket 0:22-cv-02377) the TCPA complaint filed Sept. 7 in Ramsey, Minnesota, state court.

The plaintiff in the case "purports to assert a claim against Comcast for alleged violations of a federal statute,” said Comcast’s notice of removal justifying the case's transfer. Case law holds that “federal courts have original jurisdiction over TCPA claims,” it said.

Northfield, Minnesota, resident Chester Graham “has never had an established business relationship” with Comcast, nor has he ever given it “express, prior, written permission to contact him using an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) and an artificial or prerecorded voice,” said his complaint, naming Comcast Cable and four regional Comcast subsidiaries as defendants. It cites a January 2020 consent decree Comcast entered into with the Minnesota attorney general for $1.14 million over violations of state consumer fraud laws.

Comcast was alleged in the consent decree to have charged consumers for unordered products and for failing to deliver gift cards promised in exchange for signing up for Xfinity services, said Graham’s complaint: “Comcast has been sued numerous times for alleged violations of consumer protection laws, including the TCPA.”

Comcast made “willful and knowing” robocalls to Graham’s cellphone using an ATDS “and an artificial and/or recorded voice to send a telemarketing message,” said the complaint. The willful and knowing nature of the calls made him eligible for treble damages under the TCPA, it said. Graham mailed Comcast at least two requests for a copy of its do-not-call policies under the FTC’s telemarketing sales rule before finally getting an email response, it said. His complaint seeks $7,500 in statutory damages under the TCPA.