(Bloomberg Law) -- JPMorgan Chase will have to face claims that it made more than 160 unwanted calls to a Chase cardholder in violation of federal law, a federal judge in Pennsylvania said.
Christina Swartz sued under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act after she allegedly received scores of calls from the bank, with at least 15 of them utilizing an automated voice.
Chase argued that Swartz's claims failed because she expressly consented to receive calls from Chase when she applied for a credit card. But Judge Jennifer P. Wilson of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania refused to dismiss the suit Thursday.
The court can only examine the factual allegations included in the plaintiff's complaint at this early stage of the litigation, Wilson said, so the account application and cardholder agreement that Chase provided to the court are irrelevant.
Wilson also ruled that Swartz plausibly alleged that Chase called her using an automatic dialing system.
“Without the benefit of discovery, it would be extremely unlikely that Swartz could gain knowledge of the specific type of telephone technology Chase employed,” Wilson wrote in her opinion. She said whether Chase used an automatic dialing system is more appropriate for summary judgment.
Swartz is represented by Sabatini Freeman LLC. JPMorgan Chase Bank NA is represented by Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP.
The case is Swartz v. JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., M.D. Pa., No. 3:21-cv-01064, 3/31/22.
To contact the reporter on this story: Samantha Hawkins at shawkins1@bloombergindustry.com
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rob Tricchinelli at rtricchinelli@bloomberglaw.com; Steven Patrick at spatrick@bloomberglaw.com
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