A Court authorized this Notice because you have the right to know about a proposed Settlement of this class action lawsuit, and about all of your options, before the Court decides whether to approve the Settlement. If the Court approves the Settlement and after any objections or appeals are resolved, an administrator appointed by the Court will make the payments that the Settlement allows to individuals who submit Valid Claim Forms. Because your rights will be affected by this Settlement, it is extremely important that you read this FAQ carefully.
The Plaintiff and Defendant have reached a proposed Settlement of this matter that will affect your rights. The person who sued is called the Plaintiff. The company he is suing, DIRECTV, is called the Defendant.
Judge Mark A. Cohen of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia is overseeing this case. The case is known as Cordoba v. DIRECTV, LLC , Case No. 1:15-CV-3755-MHC. He has authorized this notice to explain all of your options before the Court decides whether to approve the Settlement. If the Court approves the Settlement and if such approval is final with respect to appeal(s), if any, an administrator appointed by the Court will make the payments and take other actions that the Settlement allows. Because your rights will be affected by this Settlement, it is extremely important that you read this FAQ carefully.
A class action lawsuit is a lawsuit in which the claims and rights of many people are decided in a single court proceeding. In a class action, one or more people called Class Representatives (in this case, Sebastian Cordoba) sue on behalf of people who have similar claims. All these people are called Class members. One court resolves the issues for all Class members, except for those who exclude themselves from the Class.
The Court previously decided that this lawsuit should be a class action as to any covered individuals who received calls from Telecel for the purposes of selling or attempting to sell DIRECTV’s goods and/or service after they had listed their numbers on the National Do Not Call list. You may have received earlier notice in 2018 regarding this case when that class was certified.
In this lawsuit, Plaintiff claims that DIRECTV contracted with Telecel to market its satellite television services. Plaintiff further alleges that Telecel made telemarketing calls to individuals without obtaining their consent or permission to receive calls, including to individuals who were listed on the National Do Not Call list. Plaintiff further claims that Telecel did not keep records of any individuals who asked it to stop calling or who made an “internal do-no-call request” asking not to receive calls from Telecel. Plaintiff says that Telecel thus violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, or TCPA, and that DIRECTV can be held liable for the calls made by Telecel. DIRECTV disagrees and argues that it should not held responsible for calls from Telecel.
The TCPA is a federal law that attempts to prevent businesses or other institutions from making certain kinds of calls to the general public. In particular, the TCPA makes it illegal in many circumstances to contact any individual who placed their number on the National Do Not Call list and requires telemarketers to keep lists of individuals who make company-specific “internal” do-not-call requests and to honor those requests.
On summary judgment, the Court found that DIRECTV was not vicariously liable for calls made by Telecel, a ruling which is currently on appeal. The parties have elected to resolve the case via settlement rather than continue with that appeal. That way, they avoid the cost and uncertainty of further litigation of the case, including the appeal, and should Plaintiff prevail on appeal, a possible trial. The Class Representative and his attorneys think the Settlement is best for all Settlement Class Members. The Court in charge of this lawsuit has granted preliminary approval of the Settlement and ordered that this Notice be distributed to explain it.
The Settlement provides relief for members of two classes, as follows:
The National Do Not Call (“NDNC”) Class consists of: All persons residing within the United States whose telephone numbers were on the National Do Not Call Registry, but who received more than one telephone call between October 27, 2011 and March 3, 2016 from Telecel on behalf of DIRECTV for the purpose of selling or attempting to sell DIRECTV’s goods and/or services.
The Internal Do Not Call (“IDNC”) Class consists of: All persons within the United States who received a telephone call on or after October 27, 2011 and before March 3, 2016 from Telecel on behalf of DIRECTV for the purpose of selling or encouraging the sale of DIRECTV’s goods and/or services, who asked Telecel to stop making such calls to them, and who nevertheless received more than one such call from Telecel after asking not to be called again.
You may be a member of both classes, if you fulfill the criteria for both.
Membership in the classes is limited to those individuals who are reflected as having received telemarketing calls in Telecel’s records as set forth in Plaintiff’s motion for class certification.
DIRECTV has agreed to create a common fund of four hundred forty thousand ($440,000) to pay cash awards to Settlement Class Members, pay the costs of administration of the settlement, and pay attorneys’ fees, expenses, and any incentive award to the Class Representative (if allowed by law), as approved by the Court. Each Settlement Class Member who submits a valid Claim Form will receive an equal share of that fund, after the costs, fees, and expenses are deducted.
You must submit a valid and timely Claim Form to receive a cash award by May 17, 2024. In order to make a claim under the Settlement, you must affirm that you received the telemarketing calls in question and that either (1) you asked Telecel not to call you anymore to advertise DIRECTV’s services and then Telecel called you again or (2) your cellular telephone number was listed on the National Do Not Call list at the time that Telecel called you to advertise DIRECTV’s services.
If you submit a valid and timely claim, and records confirm that you are a class member, you will receive a pro-rata share of the settlement fund, after deducting administrative expenses, any payments to the class representative, and attorneys’ fees and expenses as approved by the Court. Individuals who are members of both the NDNC Class and the INDC Settlement Class are eligible to receive only a single share of the Settlement Fund. An NDNC Class Member or IDNC Settlement Class Member who received a qualifying number of calls from Telecel on more than one phone number will also be entitled to only a single recovery.
The Court will hold a hearing on May 17, 2024 to decide whether to approve the Settlement. If the Settlement is approved, appeals may still follow. It is always uncertain when these appeals will be resolved, and resolving them can take time, perhaps more than a year, so we cannot say exactly when payment will be made. Please be patient.
Being a Settlement Class Member means that, unless you exclude yourself, you cannot sue, continue to sue, or be part of any other lawsuit against DIRECTV about the legal issues in this case, and that all of the decisions and judgments by the Court in the case going forward will bind you.
If you were to file your own lawsuit for violations of the TCPA and prevailed, you could obtain damages of $500 per violation, or up to $1,500 per violation if the statute is found to have been willfully or knowingly violated. The TCPA does not provide for attorneys’ fees to prevailing individual plaintiffs.
However, DIRECTV has denied that it made any illegal calls to anyone or engaged in any wrongdoing of any kind, or that it is responsible for any improper calls made by Telecel.
If you do not exclude yourself from the Settlement, you will be unable to file another lawsuit involving any of the claims described and identified herein, and you will release DIRECTV and the “Released Parties” (defined as DIRECTV and each and all of its respective direct and indirect, parents, subsidiaries, affiliated companies and corporations, successors, and predecessors in interest, and each of its respective past, present, and future directors, officers, managers, employees, general partners, limited partners, principals, insurers, reinsurers, shareholders, vendors (including Telecel), attorneys, advisors, representatives, predecessors, successors, divisions, assigns, or related entities, and each of their executors, successors, and legal representatives.
Remaining in the Settlement Classes, whether or not you submit a Claim Form, means that you, as well as your heirs, executors, administrators, representatives, agents, attorneys, partners, successors, predecessors-in-interest, assigns, all those who claim through them or who assert or could assert claims on their behalf, and any customary or authorized users of their accounts or telephones, release, resolve, relinquish, and discharge each and every one of the Released Parties from each of the Released Claims (as defined below). You further agree that you and they will not institute any action or cause of action (in law, in equity, or administratively), suits, debts, liens, or claims, known or unknown, fixed or contingent, which they may have or claim to have, in state or federal court, in arbitration, or with any state, federal, or local government agency or with any administrative or advisory body, arising from or related in any way to the Released Claims.
The Released Claims specifically extend to claims that Plaintiff and Settlement Class Members do not know or suspect to exist in their favor at the time that the Settlement Agreement and the releases contained therein become effective. This release will be interpreted to the fullest extent of the law.
Remaining in the Settlement also means that you further agree and covenant not to sue any of the Released Parties with respect to any of the Released Claims, or otherwise to assist others in doing so, and agree to be forever barred from doing so, in any court of law or equity, or any other forum.
The Settlement Agreement (available here) provides more detail regarding the release and describes the Released Parties and Released Claims with accurate legal terminology, so read it carefully. You can talk to the law firms representing the Class listed in the “Do I have a lawyer in this case?” section below for free or you can, at your own expense, talk to your own lawyer if you have any questions about the Released Parties or the Released Claims or what they mean.
The release does not apply to IDNC Settlement Class Members who timely opt-out of or exclude themselves from the Settlement.
If you are a member of the NDNC Class, you have already received notice and an opportunity to opt-out of the Settlement. By staying in the class, you agreed to be bound by the outcome of this litigation, and thus you do not have a further opportunity to opt-out.
If you are a member of the IDNC Settlement Class and you want to keep the right to sue DIRECTV individually on your own or be a part of a case against DIRECTV (as a class member or otherwise) about the legal issues in this case, then you must take steps to exclude yourself or opt-out from the Settlement.
If you ask to be excluded, you will not get any payment, and you cannot object to the Settlement. You will not be legally bound by anything that happens in this Settlement.
If you do not exclude yourself and the Settlement is finally approved, you give up any right to sue DIRECTV or any Released Parties on any of the claims that this Settlement resolves. You must exclude yourself from this Settlement Classes to continue your own lawsuit.
You cannot exclude yourself by telephone or by email. You cannot exclude yourself by mailing a request to any location other than the address above or after the deadline. You must sign your letter requesting exclusion. A lawyer cannot sign for you. No one else can sign for you.
EXCLUSION REQUESTS THAT ARE NOT POSTMARKED ON OR BEFORE APRIL 5, 2024 WILL NOT BE HONORED.
You can tell the Court that you do not agree with the Settlement or any part of it. If you are a Settlement Class Member, you can object to the Settlement (or any part of it) if you do not think it is fair. You can state the reason(s) why you think the Court should not approve it. The Court will consider your views. To object, you must file a written objection saying that you object to the proposed Settlement in Cordoba v. DIRECTV, LLC , Case No. 1:15-CV-3755-MHC (N.D. Ga.). Your letter must include: (1) your full name; (2) your address; (3) the telephone number where you may be contacted; (4) the telephone number(s) that you maintain were called during the Settlement Class Period; (5) all grounds for the objection, with specificity and with factual and legal support for each stated ground; (6) the identity of any witnesses you may call to testify; (7) copies of any exhibits that you intend to introduce into evidence at the Final Approval Hearing; (8) a statement of the identity (including name, address, law firm, phone number and email) of any lawyer who will be representing you with respect to any objection; (9) a statement of whether you intend to appear at the Final Approval Hearing with or without counsel; and (10) a statement as to whether the objection applies only to the objector, a specific subset of one of the classes, or an entire class. Supporting documents must also be attached to the objection. Your objection to the Settlement must be filed with the Settlement Administrator and postmarked no later than April 5, 2024 to:
Do Not Send Your Objections to the Court. The Settlement Administrator will provide them to the Court instead.
Objecting is simply telling the Court that you do not like something about the Settlement. You can object only if you stay in the Settlement. Excluding yourself (or opting out), is telling the Court that you do not want to be included in the Settlement. If you exclude yourself, you cannot object because the Settlement no longer affects you. Any Class Member who does not file objections in accordance with the requirements stated in the Notice waives the right to object or to be heard at the Final Approval Hearing discussed below.
Yes. The Court appointed the law firms of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP and Meyer Wilson Co., LPA to represent you as “Class Counsel.”
You do not have to pay Class Counsel. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer, and have that lawyer appear in court for you in this case, you may hire one at your own expense.
Class Counsel include:
Class Counsel will ask the Court to approve payment of up to one-third of the Settlement Fund, or $146,666.67, to compensate them for expenses and for attorneys’ fees for investigating the facts, litigating the case, and negotiating the Settlement. Class Counsel will also ask for their costs in litigating the case. Class Counsel may also request an award of an incentive payment of $2,500 to the Class Representative, in compensation for his time and effort, if the law allows such an award. The Court may award less than these amounts.
Any objection to Class Counsel’s application for attorneys’ fees and costs, or to the request (if any) for the Class Representative incentive payment, may be mailed, and must be postmarked no later than April 5, 2024, which is thirty (30) days following the filing of Class Counsel’s motion for an award of attorneys’ fees and costs. You can object by sending a letter addressed to the Court at the address listed in the next section. In your letter, you must state that you object. Be sure to include your full name, address, telephone number, and the reasons you object to the proposed award, or to the amount of the proposed award.
The Court will hold a hearing to decide whether to approve the Settlement. This Final Approval Hearing will be held at 10:00 a.m. EST on May 17, 2024 in Courtroom 1905 of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, 75 Ted Turner Drive SW, Atlanta, GA 30303-3309. The hearing may be held virtually by video conference or moved to a different date or time without additional notice, so it is a good idea to check the settlement website for updates. At this hearing, the Court will consider whether the Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate, and whether to award attorneys’ fees, expenses, and an incentive award as described above, and in what amounts. If there are objections, the Court will consider them. After the hearing, the Court will decide whether to approve the Settlement. We do not know how long it will take the Court to issue its decision. It is not necessary for you to attend this hearing, but you may attend at your own expense.
You may ask the Court for permission to speak at the Final Approval Hearing. To do so, you must file a notice with the Court saying
that you intend to appear at the Final Approval Hearing in Cordoba v. DIRECTV, LLC , Case No. 1:15-CV-3755-MHC (N.D. Ga.).
You may include this request in any objection you file, see Section 13 above. Be sure to include your full name, address, and
telephone number, and to the extent not otherwise submitted in relation to a filed objection, copies of any documents you will
present to the Court in connection with the Final Approval Hearing. You cannot speak at the hearing if you do not file a timely
notice or if you excluded yourself from the Settlement Classes.
Your notice of intention to appear must be filed with the
Court and postmarked no later than April 5, 2024.
The notice of intention to appear must be filed with the Court at this address:
If you do nothing, you will not receive a cash award. You must submit a claim to get a cash award and comply with all of the requirements of the Claim Form. Unless you exclude yourself from the Settlement Classes, if the Court grants final approval of the Settlement then you will be bound by the terms and conditions of the Settlement and you will not be able to start a lawsuit, continue with a lawsuit, or be part of any other lawsuit against DIRECTV about the legal issues in this case, ever again.
Visit the Court Documents page here, where you will find the key documents in this case, including key orders from the Court during the lawsuit and related to this Settlement. You may also email Class Counsel for more information, or write to the Settlement Administrator using the address below