TCPA – Jurisdiction

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Christopher Bilek v. Federal Insurance Company, et al.,

Case No.: 20-2504

Officials: WOOD, HAMILTON, and KIRSCH, Circuit Judges.

Focus: TCPA – Jurisdiction

Christopher Bilek received two unauthorized robocalls soliciting health insurance that he alleged violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and the Illinois Automatic Telephone Dialing Act. Bilek sued Federal Insurance Company and Health Insurance Innovations on a vicarious liability theory, claiming that defendants’ agents generated the unauthorized robocalls. To support his agency allegations, Bilek alleged a web of business relationships: Federal Insurance Company contracted with Health Insurance Innovations to sell its insurance; Health Insurance Innovations hired lead generators to effectuate telemarketing; and the lead generators made the unauthorized robocalls that form the basis of Bilek’s claims here.

Though neither Federal Insurance Company nor Health Insurance Innovations initiated the robocalls, Bilek sought to hold defendants vicariously liable for the lead generators’ unauthorized calling under three agency theories: actual authority, apparent authority, and ratification. The district court dismissed Bilek’s complaint, holding that Bilek failed to plausibly allege agency on any of these grounds. For that reason, the district court dismissed Bilek’s claims against Federal Insurance Company for failure to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6), and it dismissed Health Insurance Innovations for lack of personal jurisdiction under Rule 12(b)(2). We disagree. While we express no view on whether Bilek will ultimately succeed in proving an agency relationship between the lead generators and either Federal Insurance Company or Health Insurance Innovations, Bilek alleges enough to show an agency relationship between the lead generators and Health Insurance Innovations. As a consequence, the district court erred in finding it lacked personal jurisdiction over Health Insurance Innovations. We reverse and remand.

Reversed and remanded

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Derek A Hawkins is Corporate Counsel, at Salesforce.