The Law Office of Robert L. Teel, Law Offices of Ronald A. Marron, APLC, and Foley & Lardner, LLP Appointed Co-lead Class Counsel
November 21, 2018, San Diego, CA — A federal court has granted class certification in part to Plaintiffs whose phone calls were recorded by Securus Technologies, Inc. (“Securus”) in a case involving alleged California Invasion of Privacy Act (“CIPA”) violations. Named Plaintiffs are Juan Romero, Frank Tiscareno, and criminal defense attorney Kenneth Elliott. The court also appointed The Law Office of Robert L. Teel of Seattle, Washington, Law Offices of Ronald A. Marron, APLC of San Diego, California, and Foley & Lardner, LLP as co-lead class counsel.
Judge Jeffrey Miller, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, on Wednesday granted class certification to Plaintiffs whose telephone calls were recorded. The named Plaintiffs represent a class currently comprised of more than 240 attorneys and detainees and are alleging that the class’ attorney-client phone calls were unlawfully recorded without their permission during a period commencing on July 10, 2018 to the present.
According to Judge Miller, Plaintiffs satisfied all requirements of Federal Rule 23(a) and Rule 23(b)(2)-(3) pertaining to class certification. “Plaintiffs identify 232 detainee and 14 attorney class members from the Sheriff’s Office’s and Defendant’s responses to Plaintiffs’ discovery requests. This evidence is sufficient to establish that the class will likely include hundreds of detainee and attorney members, weighing in favor of class adjudication. In addition, in light of Plaintiffs’ evidence they were not warned that their calls would be recorded, a significant number of class members may not know that their calls were recorded. Thus, a class action is superior to other available methods of litigation and would likely achieve substantial administrative and management efficiencies.”
“We are pleased the Court has ruled in favor of this case against Securus proceeding as a class action,” Plaintiffs’ co-lead counsel Robert Teel said. “While it is disappointing that the Court did not find Plaintiffs satisfy the requirements for Federal Rule 23(a) and Rule 23(b)(3) for claims other than their CIPA claims, this is good news for attorneys and their clients in the class.”
The case involves substantial claims involving the recording, storage, and use of attorney-client phone calls by Securus as part of its business practices. Securus allowed law enforcement, including the offices of prosecuting attorneys, to access, listen to, and download some of the recordings. Securus is one of the nation’s largest providers of telephone services to law enforcement agencies and detention facilities around the country.
A copy of the court order (Case No. 16cv1283 JM (MDD)) is available online at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RmsG-Zyarj_gGtSPp1CoSfMprD2gaKtp/view?usp=sharing
Copyright 2018 Robert Teel
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