Judge Orders Nov. 14 Briefing to See if Article III Standing Exists in TCPA Case

Both parties in the first amended class action brought by plaintiffs Sheila and Dennis Thompson against home entertainment retailer Vintage Stock alleging Telephone Consumer Protection Act violations are to file supplemental briefing by Nov. 14 addressing whether Article III standing exists in the case, said an order signed Tuesday (docket 4:23-cv-00042) by U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark for Eastern Missouri in St. Louis.

Vintage Stock’s March 15 motion to dismiss asserts that count II of the Thompsons' first amended complaint for TCPA wrongdoing fails as a matter of law, and must be dismissed. It says the Thompsons lack standing because they haven’t alleged any harm as a result of the retailer's purported violations of the TCPA’s "technical requirements" (see 2304070034).

"Absent Article III standing," the court “lacks constitutional power to adjudicate this dispute,” said Clark's order. Article III standing exists when a claim satisfies three "conditions," it said. The plaintiffs need to show they suffered an injury in fact, their injury “is fairly traceable to the defendant’s allegedly unlawful conduct,” and the plaintiffs’ requested relief “likely can redress” that injury, it said.

In their briefs, the parties “discuss only whether Count II satisfies the injury-in-fact requirement,” said Clark's order. But the court finds that the case “warrants briefing on all three requirements of Article III standing,” hence the Nov. 14 deadline for the supplemental briefing, it said. Each brief should run no longer than 10 double-spaced pages, and should address each of the three Article III requirements in separate sections, said Clark's order.

The Thompsons allege that Vintage Stock was “expressly forbidden” from sending them any advertising text messages, but that it did so anyway, in violation of federal law. They further allege that Vintage Stock unlawfully sent them dozens of text messages to numbers listed on the national and Missouri do not call registries, and that the text messages “were generic and obviously directed to many people” (see 2303300027).