John Lofton v. Verizon Wireless (Vaw)

MEMORANDUM

1. In this putative class action, John Lofton alleges, inter alia, that Verizon Wireless LLC (“Verizon”) violated the California Invasion of Privacy Act, CaLPenal Code §§ 630-638, when Colleeto — one its debt collectors — called his cellular phone and recorded two calls without his consent. Colleeto called Lofton on June 4 and June 7, 2012 intending to reach a Verizon customer with the initials “K.B.” Upon discovering it had reached a wrong number, it recorded both calls without notifying Lof-ton that the recordings were being made, pursuant to Verizon’s written policy permitting its debt collectors to skip the standard disclosure in such cases. On January 22, 2014, Lofton filed a motion for class certification and preliminary injunction. The district court denied the motion on the basis that Verizon had modified its policy so as to require disclosure on every outgoing call that the call would be recorded, and Lofton had failed to demonstrate that Verizon had imminent plans to revert to its prior policy. Lofton appeals the denial of the preliminary injunction.

2. The party seeking a preliminary injunction bears the burden of demonstrating, among other things, a…