TCPA cases are dangerous and difficult to defend. Everyone knows that.

But sometimes results are predictable and simple.

For instance in Barry v. Firstsource Solutions, the Plaintiff alleged BPO Firstsource made a series of illegal prerecorded calls without consent.

Firstsource moved to dismiss arguing the Complaint did not allege facts showing it actually made the calls or that the calls were prerecorded.

The Court responded with the judicial equivalent of an eyeroll.

As to “who made the call” the Complaint alleges that the calls’ speaker self-identified as calling from Firstsource and that the voice message directed the recipient to Firstsource’s
website. That what plenty good enough for the court.

As to whether the calls were prerecorded in nature, the allegations were “the calls seemed to be artificial or prerecorded in nature because the tone and intonation of the caller were unnatural and did not reflect live speech” plus “Oliver’s name was said in a distinct manner that sounded different than the rest of the prerecorded message.” Again the Court said this was fine– a “higher” standard of pleading than necessary.

Full order here: Barry v. First Source

So one take away here, I suppose, is not to waste money on motions that can’t possibly win I think the bigger takeaway is how easy it is for a BPO to end up trapped in a very serious class action. BPO’s generally call only for brands and at their specific instructions, but as the maker of the call they can be directly sued.