ViSalus Decision at 9th Circuit ‘Surprising, to Say the Least’: Venable
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision Oct. 20 remanding to the district court a $925.22 million Telephone Consumer Protection Act judgment against ViSalus to determine if the large sum violated the company’s due process rights (see Ref:2210210069]) showed…
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that “the reasonableness and proportionality of a punitive award are important,” said Venable in an analysis of the decision Wednesday. The court was “clear” that just because an aggregate TCPA award becomes “predominantly punitive does not render it constitutionally unsound,” it said. That the 9th Circuit held that an aggregated TCPA damages award could be unconstitutional “is surprising, to the say the least,” but it seems that such a high damages award “can cause even the typically plaintiff-friendly Ninth Circuit to pause,” it said. “It remains to be seen how much, if at all, the ViSalus award will be reduced, so avoiding such an award continues to be a party’s first priority,” said Venable: “An ounce of TCPA compliance counseling now might just save 925 million pounds of pain later.”