In an instructive opinion on how intangible harms can cause injuries sufficient to confer standing on plaintiffs—and a rare example of the U.S. Supreme Court’s latest ruling on standing aiding plaintiffs—a West Virginia federal court ruled June 30 that computer-dialed telemarketing calls caused concrete, particularized privacy invasions such that plaintiff’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) putative class action claim could move forward.

The ruling in Mey v. Got Warranty, Inc., et al., No. 5:15-cv-00101 (N.D. W.Va. June 30, 2016) provides a contrast to the growing number of dismissals issued by courts across the country finding that, after the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion in Spokeo v. Robins, 136 S. Ct. 1540 (2016), plaintiffs in various cases failed to allege concrete, particularized injuries sufficient for Article III standing.¹   Because of this, it may provide guidance for plaintiffs—particularly in the area of technology-related statutes and data breaches, where standing is often an issue—on how to avoid summary dismissal of their claims.  Given the court’s detailed opinion, the import of the holding may extend well beyond the context of the case, in which plaintiff alleged she received numerous robocalls in violation of TCPA provisions barring autodialed, prerecorded messages and calls to those on the National Do Not Call Registry.Continue Reading Federal Court Finds Intangible Harm Caused by Robocalls Sufficient for Post-Spokeo Standing in TCPA Claim Alleging Privacy Invasion