Court Grants Final Approval to $1.625 Million Comodo Prerecorded Call Settlement After Nearly 10 Years of Litigation

The opinion is attached: Johnson v. Comodo final approval opinion.

Here is what happened

The plaintiff brought suit in 2016 under 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(A)(iii). He alleged that Comodo identified sales targets and called them with a prerecorded message without any consent. Comodo did not admit liability.

The litigation was hard fought. The court certified a class of everyone in the United States to whose cell phone Comodo made a prerecorded telemarketing call within four years before the complaint was filed. The court denied Comodo's summary judgment motion, its motions to strike the plaintiff's expert and its motion to decertify. The Third Circuit denied interlocutory review.

The settlement terms

According to the opinion:

1. Comodo pays $1,625,000, and none of it reverts to Comodo.
2. Each claimant receives a share based on the number of prerecorded calls to their number, capped at $1,500 per call.
3. Uncashed checks fund a second distribution, and any remainder then goes to a cy pres recipient.
4. Of 12,757 identified class members, 1,266 submitted valid claims, a 10.2 percent claim rate, tied to 4,631 calls.
5. The average recovery was estimated at about $596.

Here is why it matters

Prerecorded marketing calls to cell phones without consent remain a textbook TCPA violation. Once a class is certified and survives a decertification motion, the defendant's options narrow. This case took nearly 10 years to resolve.

What this means for you

1. Prerecorded marketing calls to cell phones need prior express written consent.
2. Keep your call data. Settlements and damages are calculated from it.
3. Class certification is the turning point. Evaluate your exposure early, not after a class is certified.