High court to allow telemarketers, others to be sued in federal court over nuisance calls

ASSOCIATED PRESS

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WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court says people who get unwanted calls from telemarketers and other businesses can sue in federal as well as state courts.

The high court ruling on Wednesday involves a lawsuit claiming a debt collector used repeated recorded calls.

Marcus Mims said he was getting repeated phone calls from Arrow Financial Services, LLC, trying to collect a student loan debt for Sallie Mae. His lawsuit was thrown out by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which said that Congress did not explicitly give permission for federal lawsuits in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Other federal courts ruled differently and let lawsuits move forward.

The high court said in a unanimous opinion that it would allow federal lawsuits against telemarketers.

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