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Texas Court Rules A Product Provider Can Be Held Liable For A Telemarketer’s Failure To Register As Telemarketer Within the State
A Texas Court in ruled that a product provider can be held liable for its telemarketer’s failure to register.
The defendant, Salaiz is an administrator of vehicle warranty products. The warranties were allegedly sold by a third-party telemarketer who was not named in the lawsuit. None the less the defendant was sued for the marketers failure to register as a telemarketer within the State of Texas.
As you may know, Texas law requires telemarketers making calls in the state to register with the state in many instances.
The Defendant moved to dismiss arguing that it did not have to register and therefore could not be liable for the third-party’s failure to register?
The Court did not agree. The Court found that the defendant had to face the heat for its “agent’s” failure to register:
“GSP’s telephone solicitations on VSC’s behalf may [] be imputed to VSC, making VSC a “seller” that must “hold[ ] a registration certificate for the business location from which the telephone solicitation is made” to avoid liability. Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 302.101(a).
Plaintiff alleges that although VSC “was registered at one point in time,” its registration “is now suspended.” Compl. ¶¶ 62, 64. Plaintiff has therefore plausibly alleged that VSC violated section 302.101 and VSC’s Motion is denied as to that claim.
Salaiz v. VSC Operations, 2024 WL 3405601 (W.D. Tex. July 10, 2024)
