7th Circuit Finds Offer of Free Services Doesn't Violate TCPA Rules
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that calls and texts from Zipongo, which does business as Foodsmart, to consumer James Hulce weren't a violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The calls offered free nutritional services through Hulce’s state and Medicaid-funded health care plan. In a decision written by Judge Amy St. Eve, the 7th Circuit, based in Chicago, upheld a decision by a district court in the Eastern District of Wisconsin.
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Hulce said he received some 20 calls and texts from Foodsmart, though his name was on the national do not call registry, St. Eve wrote. “The sole question we address on appeal is whether the calls and messages Hulce received fall within the definition of ‘telephone solicitation,’” which they don't, “because Foodsmart did not initiate them with the purpose of persuading or urging anyone to pay for its services,” the decision said. “While Foodsmart’s purpose was to encourage Hulce to use its services, its purpose could not have been to encourage Hulce to pay for services that were free to him.”