San Francisco, CA Health care organization Kaiser Permanente is facing a proposed class action alleging violations of the consumer privacy and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). Specifically, the lawsuit alleges KP called a former California customer's cellphone without consent.
Filed by plaintiff Rafael David Sherman, the TCPA class action entitled Sherman v. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc., case number 3:13-cv-00981, in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, claims Kaiser sent an unsolicited automated message to Sherman' cellphone on April 23, three months after he had canceled his health insurance coverage with the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc.
Kaiser allegedly used an automatic dialing system to contact Sherman which left a prerecorded message advertising Kaiser' available health plan options, all of which is in violation of the TCPA.
"Plaintiff had terminated his health insurance coverage with Kaiser Permanente, thereby revoking any and all consent that defendant may have had to contact plaintiff's cellular telephone for marketing purposes or otherwise, including by an [automatic telephone dialing system] or an artificial or prerecorded voice message," the complaint states.
The proposed lawsuit is seeking a class certification of cellphone owners who received unsolicited calls from Kaiser through automatic dialing or prerecorded messages in the last four years. The size of the proposed class is unspecified, but the plaintiff estimates the number to be in the tens of thousands, according to the complaint.
Further, the plaintiff is also seeking $500 to be awarded to plaintiffs per TCPA violation for negligence, and a per-action fine of $1,500 in cases where Kaiser knowingly violated the TCPA, according to the lawsuit.
Plaintiffs are represented by Abbas Kazerounian of Kazerouni Law Group APC and Joshua B. Swigart of Hyde & Swigart LLP.
