Vintage Stock Opposes Motion to Remand Dismissed TCPA Count to State Court
Vintage Stock opposes the plaintiffs' Feb. 12 motion to remand the dismissed count II of their first amended Telephone Consumer Protection Act complaint to the Missouri state court where it originated before the home entertainment retailer removed it in January…
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2023 (see 2402130004), said the retailer's memorandum in opposition Monday (docket 4:23-cv-00042) in U.S. District Court for Eastern Missouri in St. Louis. In dismissing count II without prejudice, the judge found that Sheila and Dennis Thompson lacked standing to bring the allegation that Vintage Stock failed to institute procedures for maintaining a list of persons who request not to be called. The Thompsons contend the judge improperly dismissed count II without prejudice, and that based on 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals precedent, the judge should remand count II to state court. But Vintage Stock asks that the motion, which it interprets as “effectively a motion for reconsideration” of the judge’s order, be denied, said its memorandum. The claim “was properly dismissed for lack of standing,” the defendant said. Remand of a single claim where two others remain in federal court also “is futile and would needlessly increase the burden on the parties and courts,” it said. As a preliminary matter, the claim was dismissed without prejudice and the Thompsons may refile count II in state court if they choose, it said. But doing so would render the Thompsons’ remand motion “all the more unnecessary,” it said. Even if the Thompsons refiled count II in state court, “it would still be dismissed for lack of standing,” it said.