Plaintiff Dies, No Class Action

In a determination that rested on a subtle distinction between “penal’ and “remedial” claims in a class action, a New York court dismissed a Telephone Consumer Protection Act lawsuit before it reached certification stage because the named plaintiff had died. He had filed the lawsuit after receiving call phone calls pitching timeshare properties. He said he was on the national Do Not Call list and maintained that the calls violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.