A Florida state court recently granted final approval to a $40 million deal in a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) class action, signaling that defendants are still facing the potential for sizable settlements.
Beverly Deshay filed suit in June 2022 against real estate company Keller Williams, alleging that the company made unsolicited prerecorded calls to consumers without consent, including those registered on the National Do Not Call Registry.
Deshay claimed that the company provided a marketing plan to real estate agents affiliated with franchisees that included unsolicited telemarketing and that she received multiple calls from the company with the message, "We got buyers actually looking for homes across all price ranges. Please call."
After lengthy negotiations and three mediations, the parties reached an agreement totaling $40 million.
Keller Williams will pay the approximately two million class members up to $20 per claim, with Deshay receiving a $5,000 representative payment as well as settlement administration expenses and attorneys' fees and costs of $10.2 million.
Another roughly $7.8 million was allotted to help change the company's business practices by creating a TCPA task force to enhance compliance, making the existing TCPA and Do Not Call resource page more visible to its franchisees and their independent contractor real estate agents, and providing additional materials to the franchisees about TCPA and Do Not Call compliance that they can use with their independent contractor real estate agents.
To read the settlement agreement in Deshay v. Keller Williams, click here.
To read the order granting final approval of the settlement, click here.
Why it matters
TCPA defendants should take note that multimillion-dollar class action settlements are still happening and should ensure compliance with the statute and its regulations.
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