A Kansas lady who claimed unsolicited textual content messages from the Democratic Nationwide Committee blocked her cellphone and prevented her from offering wanted natural therapy to a most cancers affected person has been awarded a $60,000 default judgment in opposition to the DNC.
Mankato resident Ursula Lenhardt sued the DNC final 12 months, alleging the raft of unsolicited robotexts violated the Phone Client Safety Act, which permits shoppers to recuperate $500 for every telephone solicitation that violates the regulation.
The TCPA, which was enacted in 1991, typically prohibits unsolicited, automated telemarketing calls.
The DNC by no means responded to Lenhardt’s lawsuit, which she filed with out an lawyer, and final week, U.S. District Choose Daniel Crabtree awarded her $500 in damages for every of the 120 textual content message violations Lenhardt alleged.
Lenhardt claimed in her criticism that, on account of the unsolicited messages from the DNC, she was unable “to make an urgently wanted telephone name” round Election Day Nov. 3, 2020, to an aged most cancers affected person whom she was treating.
The particular person died, “as Miss Lenhardt was unable to offer the natural treatment for this most cancers struggling particular person,” Lenhardt’s criticism said. “Her mobile phone was blocked utterly. That particular person has been refused therapy at a Salina hospital, he has been ship (sic) residence — the herbs that simply had arrived and urgently wanted to be picked up have been his solely hope and probability.”
Lenhardt didn’t reply to questions despatched to her by way of e-mail. The DNC didn’t reply to a number of requests searching for remark.
Invoice Raney, a Kansas Metropolis lawyer who focuses on TCPA instances, stated he was shocked the DNC didn’t reply to Lenhardt’s lawsuit.
“I’ve represented at the least 10 professional se (events who signify themselves) and in any other case extra severe actions in opposition to politicians and political events,” Raney stated. “It’s unimaginable that they have been unaware of the regulation, and it’s simply stunning to me {that a} default can be taken.”
Lenhardt is a German citizen, in line with her criticism. She is an artist whose work was displayed at Blue Earth Studios and Gallery in Mankato in December 2016. The work have been being provided at $2,250 apiece. The gallery described her on its Facebook page as having studied artwork, theater, filmmaking, linguistics and literature in Indonesia, England and Germany.
Lenhardt has additionally sued the town of Mankato and the Federal Republic of Germany, in line with court docket data. The swimsuit in opposition to Mankato, which alleged the town had allowed “an unpermitted go-cart-rally” in her yard for 5 hours in 2018, was dismissed. The swimsuit in opposition to the Federal Republic of Germany, which sought $12 million in damages and alleged Germany had wrongfully did not subject her a passport, additionally was dismissed.
Along with the DNC, Lenhardt’s unique lawsuit named as defendants President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Barack Obama, former Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Elizabeth Warren “as main members of the Democratic Nationwide Occasion.”
Crabtree, nevertheless, discovered that Lenhardt had no standing to sue them and dismissed them from the lawsuit. However he discovered that Lenhardt did assert believable claims underneath the TCPA in opposition to the DNC and allowed these to proceed.
Lenhardt requested for a complete of $720,000 in damages, however Crabtree rejected her request for damages based mostly on “the extra stress, ache and struggling” that she claimed she incurred from the TCPA violations.
To again up that declare, Lenhardt supplied an announcement from a neighbor of the most cancers affected person claiming that Lenhardt was unable to ship the neighbor a message to choose up the natural treatment for the affected person as a result of her telephone was blocked.
Crabtree, nevertheless, stated these allegations have been “too attenuated from the TCPA violations” to help Lenhardt’s ache and struggling request.
“That will don’t have any relevance on the damages,” Raney stated. “The damages are statutory.”
Crabtree additionally rejected Lenhardt’s declare for triple damages based mostly on “willful and realizing” violations of the TCPA. Crabtree dominated that Lenhardt did not show the DNC’s violations have been willful and realizing.
However he did discover that she was entitled to statutory damages of $500 for every TCPA violation. And he additionally awarded her post-judgment curiosity.
Oddly, on the identical day that Crabtree issued his ruling, one other federal decide in Texas dominated in an analogous case introduced in opposition to the Republican Nationwide Committee. Not like the DNC, nevertheless, the RNC defended itself and the decide present in its favor.
The plaintiff within the Texas case, Savannah Berger, claimed that unsolicited textual content messages despatched by the RNC to encourage her to vote for Donald Trump have been despatched to her mobile phone with out her consent. The decide discovered that Berger had deserted her declare that the texts have been made utilizing an automatic phone dialing system. The decide additionally discovered that political texts aren’t coated by the TCPA’s DNC — which on this context doesn’t stand for Democratic Nationwide Committee however for “don’t name.”
