4th Circuit Affirms Dismissal of TCPA Suit Under Government Contractor Immunity Doctrine
Federal appellate judges upheld a lower court dismissal of a robocall lawsuit alleging General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia didn't err in barring the suit…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
under an immunity doctrine, ruled a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Craig Cunningham v. GDIT, No. 17-1592. Cunningham alleged he received, without giving express prior consent, an autodialed, prerecorded GDIT phone call advertising health insurance, violating the TCPA. The district court granted GDIT's motion to dismiss under a Supreme Court doctrine immunizing government contractors from suit when the government validly authorized the contractors' actions (Yearsley v. W.A. Ross Construction Co., 1940). The plaintiff appealed and argued the district court erred for various reasons, including that the Yearsley doctrine doesn't apply as a matter of law to federal claims. He also argued GDIT failed to qualify for immunity because the government didn't authorize its actions and the authorization wasn't validly conferred, and even if immunity did apply, it's a merits defense from liability, not jurisdictional immunity. "We find these arguments unpersuasive, and now affirm the district court's dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction," said the opinion of Judge Henry Floyd, joined by William Traxler and Dennis Shedd. Cunningham's lawyer said his client is considering "all his options."