The Florida Telephone Solicitation Act, intended to be an even stronger deterrent against unwanted calls and texts than the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act, could be getting a major overhaul soon—and the plaintiffs bar is taking notice. In this update, we're looking at a surge of telemarketing class actions which will likely keep growing as the Florida Legislature considers amending the FTSA.

What's Happening

Class actions soared last month in Florida, according to Law.com Radar. More than 30 federal class actions were detected by the platform in March, twice the typical monthly average. What's driving the surge? A third of the cases, many of which were brought by class action boutique firm Hedin Hall, accuse businesses like Amazon, Chili's and Estee Lauder of sending unsolicited marketing texts in violation of the Florida Telephone Solicitation Act, a state analog of the TCPA. Also, the University of Florida, Orlando Health and other defendants are under fire for allegedly sharing website visitors' private information with Facebook and other companies through tracking pixels on their websites.