Plaintiff Chet Michael Wilson alleges that after registering his cell phone number on the National Do Not Call Registry, he received multiple prerecorded calls from Autoweb, Inc. on behalf of Nissan North America, Inc.
Wilson claims the calls were intended for another person, that he had no interest in Nissan’s vehicles, and that he never provided his phone number or consented to receive such calls. He asserts the calls invaded his privacy and constituted a private nuisance.
Nissan moved to dismiss, arguing Wilson lacked Article III standing because he intentionally kept an atypical phone number and filed numerous other TCPA lawsuits to generate litigation. The court declined to consider Nissan’s evidence of Wilson’s other cases and social media posts, noting the case is at the pleading stage.
The court found Wilson’s allegations sufficient to establish standing, noting he had used the number for seven years for personal purposes and registered it on the Do Not Call Registry. The court reserved the right to revisit standing if discovery reveals otherwise.
Nissan also argued Wilson’s claims fell outside the TCPA’s zone of interests and failed to state a claim because Nissan did not physically make the calls. The court held that Wilson plausibly alleged Autoweb acted as Nissan’s agent and that Nissan could face treble damages for willful violations.
Regarding the class allegations, Nissan argued the proposed class was an impermissible “fail-safe” class and failed typicality and predominance requirements. The court found the class allegations adequately pleaded at this stage and denied the motion to strike, though it noted serious questions about the class definition’s viability.