Quick one for you.

As TCPAworld denizens know, Plaintiffs in these parts will often add a common law privacy claim or two to their complaints, as much for flourish it seems as anything else.

One commonly asserted theory is that unwanted phone calls intrude upon seclusion, a basic privacy right that was recognized at common law. Many courts struggle with the proper application of this privacy theory in the context of unwanted phone calls, however, and a remarkably diverse assortment of rulings exist on the subject.

The proper line of cases (in most jurisdictions) looks to whether the purported intrusion upon seclusion is “extreme” or “outrageous”—a standard that will only very rarely be met by unwanted calls.

As an example, in  Shadlich v. Makers Nutrition Llc, Case No. 8:20-cv-389-T-60CPT, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 161261 (M.D. Fl.  September 3, 2020) the court held that the alleged receive of 98 unwanted calls was not sufficiently outrageous or extreme to qualify as an intrusion on seclusion for invasion of privacy purposes. It dismissed the claim at the pleadings stage.

Keep it in mind,