Sparkle Hill, Inc. v. Ursell et al
Filing
144
MEMORANDUM OPINION & ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE: The Court shall afford Defendant 30 days from the date of this Order to show cause as to why judgment in the amount of $17,333,500.00 (which is $500 in statutory damages for each time one of Defendant's 34,667 unsolicited faxes was successfully sent to the 28,835 class members) should not be entered against it. Signed by Judge Noel L. Hillman on 12/13/2017. (tf, )
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY
SPARKLE HILL, INC.,
individually and as the
representative of a class of
similarly-situated persons,
Plaintiff,
Civil No. 13-4172 (NLH/AMD)
MEMORANDUM OPINION &
ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE
v.
Invecor, LLC,
doing business as
AMB Business Supply,
Defendant.
APPEARANCES
JAMES C. SHAH
SHEPHERD, FINKELMAN, MILLER & SHAH, LLP
475 WHITE HORSE PIKE
COLLINGSWOOD, NJ 08107-1909
PHILLIP A. BOCK
BOCK, HATCH, LEWIS &
OPPENHEIM, LLC
134 N. LA SALLE ST., STE. 1000
CHICAGO, IL 60603
BRIAN J. WANCA
ANDERSON + WANCA
3701 ALGONQUIN ROAD, SUITE 760
ROLLING MEADOWS, IL 60008
On behalf of Plaintiff
JOHN H. KING
THOMPSON, BECKER & BOTHWELL, LLC
WOODCREST PAVILION
TEN MELROSE AVENUE
SUITE 100
CHERRY HILL, NJ 08003
DAVE E. KAWALA
CATHERINE BASQUE WEILER
SWANSON, MARTIN & BELL, LLP
330 NORTH WABASH, SUITE 3300
CHICAGO, IL 60611
On behalf of Defendant
HILLMAN, District Judge
WHEREAS, this case concerns Plaintiff’s claims that
Defendant violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act
(“TCPA”), 47 U.S.C. § 227, when it engaged Business to Business
Solutions (“B2B”), which sold fax blasting services, to send out
34,668 faxes to advertise its business to 28,836 different fax
numbers; and
WHEREAS, on October 24, 2017, the Court granted Plaintiff’s
motion for summary judgment as to liability only, finding that
the certified class was entitled to judgment in its favor for
each advertisement faxed that failed to contain the proper optout notice to each class member (Docket No. 139 at 14); and
WHEREAS, the Court noted that because Plaintiff did not
provide the Court with any notices from class members who had
opted out of this litigation, the Court could not enter final
judgment until the precise number of unsolicited faxes and class
members was established, and that the assessment of damages was
not quantifiable at that time, as it was possible that class
members suffered damages in excess of the $500 statutory
penalty, 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3) (the recipient may recover for
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its actual monetary loss, or receive $500 per fax, whichever is
greater) (Docket No. 139 at 14 n.3); and
WHEREAS, the Court Ordered that Plaintiff was to (1) inform
the Court on the status of its state law claims, which were
pleaded in the complaint but for which it did not seek summary
judgment, (2) provide documentation to demonstrate class member
opt-out notices, if any; and (3) provide a proposed form of
judgment as to the TCPA claims, along with an explanation of its
conclusion that no class member seeks damages in excess of $500
(Docket No. 139 at 14); and
WHEREAS, the Court further directed the parties to confer
as to whether a judgment in a significantly smaller sum would
likely provide full statutory recovery to all class members who
filed claims (Docket No. 139 at 15 n.4); and
WHEREAS, Plaintiff has complied with the Court’s direction,
by filing a stipulation of dismissal for Plaintiff’s state law
claims, providing documentation as to one opt-out, providing a
form of judgment, and relating that Plaintiff and Defendant
conferred regarding the amount of the judgment (Docket No. 141,
142, 143); and
WHEREAS, the Court has not received any communication from
Defendant, aside from its counsel’s signature on the stipulation
of dismissal of Plaintiff’s state law claims, since it filed its
opposition to Plaintiff’s motion on July 1, 2016 (Docket No.
3
123);
THEREFORE,
IT IS on this
13th
day of
December
, 2017
ORDERED that due to the type of case, the nature of the
defendant company, and the amount of the statutory damages to be
imposed, the Court shall afford Defendant 30 days from the date
of this Order to show cause as to why judgment in the amount of
$17,333,500.00 (which is $500 in statutory damages for each time
one of Defendant’s 34,667 unsolicited faxes was successfully
sent to the 28,835 class members) should not be entered against
it; and
WHEREAS, if Defendant fails to respond, or otherwise does
not present a valid reason against the entry of such judgment,
the Court will certify the class as final, and enter judgment in
Plaintiff’s favor and against Defendant in the amount of
$17,333,500.00.
s/ Noel L. Hillman
NOEL L. HILLMAN, U.S.D.J.
At Camden, New Jersey
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