Monitronics faces telemarketing claims in court
By SSN Staff
Updated Tue January 7, 2014
CHARLESTON, W.V.—Lawsuits alleging Monitronics' telemarketing broke federal law are proceeding in West Virginia, where a multidistrict litigation has been created to handle the issue. Monitronics denies wrongdoing.
In the suits, the districts claim Monitronics violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act when its employees made telemarketing calls to people on the Do Not Call Registry, according to a report in the West Virginia Record.
In a statement sent to Security Systems News, a Monitronics spokesperson said, “Monitronics did not make any of the alleged phone calls and is not being accused of directly violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The company is vigorously defending the lawsuit, and as part of that, Monitronics requested the MDL proceeding. In light of the ongoing litigation, the Company has no further comment.”
Judicial Chairman John G. Heyburn II wrote that the suits shared factual allegations, so centralizing them would prevent duplicative discovery and inconsistent pretrial rulings, while conserving resources, according to the West Virginia Record story.
In 2011, attorney John Barrett filed a class-action suit on behalf of Diana Mey in Ohio County Circuit Court, seeking penalties of $500 for each negligent violation and $1,500 for each intentional violation, according to the story. That suit was moved to federal court.
Versatile Marketing Systems, UTFC Fire and Security Americas Corp., Honeywell International and ISI Alarms NC are also defendants in the claims, according to the story.
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