Judge Awards Nearly $230,000 To Woman For 153 Robocalls

It wasn’t a robocall, but a federal judge left a message anyway for companies Tuesday when he awarded nearly $230,000 to a Texas woman, finding that a cable company crossed the line when it harassed her with 153 robocalls even after she complained about the wrong numbers.

U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan ordered Time Warner Cable Inc. to make the $229,500 payment to Araceli King of Irving, Texas, citing the New York-based company’s “particularly egregious” behavior as it violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991.

Hellerstein said he tripled the $1,500 penalty for each call because Time Warner continued making the calls even after King complained in a seven-minute phone conversation in October 2013 with a company representative. The judge noted that 74 of the calls were made after Time Warner received a copy of King’s lawsuit in March 2014.

King’s lawyer, Sergei Lemberg, said his client is delighted.

“Millions of U.S. consumers get robocalls. Only a few of them take it a step forward and get a lawyer,” Lemberg said.

This article appeared in print on page 6 of the July 9th, 2015 edition of Hamodia.