LANDYA McCAFFERTY, District Judge.
Defendant Conserve moves for reconsideration of the court's order denying its motion for summary judgment on plaintiff Shawn Kerner's claim under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (the "TCPA"), 47 U.S.C. § 227. Kerner objects.
Under the local rules of this district, a party may seek reconsideration of an interlocutory order if it shows that the order was based on "a manifest error of fact or law." L.R. 7.2(d). "Reconsideration is an extraordinary remedy that is used only sparingly."
Conserve moves for reconsideration of the court's order denying its motion for summary judgment. Summary judgment is appropriate when "the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movement is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). "`Material facts' are those which might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law, and an issue is `genuine' if there is evidence that would allow a reasonable jury to find for the non-moving party."
Kerner's TCPA claim arises under § 227(b), which makes it unlawful for any person to call a cell phone using an automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice unless the call is "made for emergency purposes or made with the prior express consent of the called party." 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(A)(iii). Conserve moved for partial summary judgment on Kerner's TCPA claim, arguing that the summary judgment record demonstrated that Kerner had given it consent to call her and had reaffirmed that consent as recently as September 2015. In response, Kerner submitted a declaration in which she stated that she told Conserve to stop calling her in the spring of 2015 and that she repeated this request to Conserve representatives "multiple times" thereafter. Based on her declaration, Kerner argued that she had validly revoked any consent that she had given Conserve to call her using automated means.
In its reply, Conserve argued that Kerner's declaration was not competent to oppose summary judgment because it was based on "improbable inferences, conclusory allegations or rank speculation" and lacked sufficient detail. In its order denying Conserve's summary judgment motion, the court determined that Kerner's declaration was admissible because it set forth nonconclusory facts that were based on her personal knowledge. The court also rejected Conserve's argument, premised on
Affidavits or declarations "are effective in opposing summary judgment only when they are given on personal knowledge, set out facts that would be admissible in evidence, and show that the affiant . . . is competent to testify about the matter in question."
Conserve asserts that the court committed a manifest error of law because its order did not conform to the "legal principle that statements predicated on undefined discussions with unnamed individuals at unspecified times are insufficient to overcome summary judgment." Doc. no. 25-1. In support, Conserve cites
This argument merely rehashes the same arguments that the court rejected in its order denying Conserve's motion for summary judgment. In its summary judgment order the court rejected Conserve's argument that Kerner's declaration was too lacking in detail to be credited for summary judgment purposes.
In
On appeal, the First Circuit held that the statements in the affidavit were inadmissible.
Nevertheless, Conserve contends that Kerner's failure to provide the exact dates of the telephone conversations and the names of the representatives with whom she spoke renders her declaration inadmissible. The court disagrees. The summary judgment record already contains the very information that Conserve contends makes Kerner's declaration deficient. In support of its motion for summary judgment, Conserve attached detailed account notes concerning its management of Kerner's account. Those notes document the time and date of the calls that Conserve representatives had with Kerner,
Conserve also contends that the declaration should not be credited because it contradicts the record. In support, Conserve points to its account notes, none of which, it argues, states that Kerner revoked her consent during the calls. Conserve has presented no evidence that it was its business practice to record revocations of consent in the account notes. Therefore, the absence of such information in the account notes is not evidence concerning revocation. Moreover, even if such a contradiction existed, it would not be sufficient for the court to disregard Kerner's declaration. In essence, such a conflict amounts to a discrepancy between Conserve's employees' account of the telephone calls and Kerner's account of those same calls. A reasonable jury could believe either of these narratives, and it is not the role of the court at this stage to make such a determination.
For the foregoing reasons, Conserve's motion for reconsideration (doc. no. 25) is denied.
SO ORDERED.