GEORGIA IN ME: The bill passed the Senate unanimously to give Georgians up to $1,000 per violation and create class action lawsuits against telemarketers AND their third-party providers
States continue to jump on the telemarketing law bandwagon…
The Georgia State Senate recently unanimously approved Senate Bill 73, introduced by Blake Tillery, which would expand Georgia’s telemarketing laws and strengthen protections for those on Georgia’s do-not-call list. The bill would allow Georgians to hold companies liable for third-party telemarketing calls and bring class action lawsuits against telemarketers. The bill prohibits “telemarketing,” which is defined to exclude consented calls and calls made with an EBR to private numbers on the state’s DNC list.
Importantly, the bill amends Title 46 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated to provide that all companies that contract with companies for telemarketing on their behalf are subject to liability to third parties:
“(j) It shall not be a defense in any action or proceeding under subsection (h) or (i) of this Code section that the defendant has exercised due diligence in adopting and implementing reasonable practices and procedures to effectively prevent telephone solicitation failed to engage in the telephone solicitation in violation of this Code section or did not know that such telephone solicitation constituted a violation of this Code section if such telephone solicitation was made on behalf of the defendant pursuant to a written or oral agreement or contract, inquiry or employment relationship; However, this applies provided that it is an objection for consideration by the arbitral tribunal if the respondent has policies and procedures in place in relation to the person or organization that made the telephone request to effectively prevent telephone requests that are against the person or organization Section of the Code, established and ordered and enforced compliance with these policies and procedures.”
The bill also allows Georgians to bring a class action lawsuit – with damages up to $1,000 per call and attorney’s fees – against any entity that made the telephone solicitation and/or the entity on whose behalf the telephone solicitation was made became.
“But our ability to stop [telemarketers] under the Georgia Do Not Call Act was limited because we saw these companies go out and reach out to other groups to make the calls for them,” Tillery explained.
A similar bill passed unanimously in the state Senate last year but failed to receive approval from the House. The bill will now move to the House of Representatives for consideration.
As state telemarketing laws become more numerous, it is important to understand not only the TCPA itself, but also state laws to avoid lawsuits at both the state and federal levels.
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