Business

Judge Awards Nearly $230,000 to Woman Who Got 153 Robocalls

Published

11 years ago

July 8, 2015

Oakland Post

This Feb. 2, 2009 file photo shows a Time Warner Cable truck in New York .Charter Communications is close to buying Time Warner Cable for about $55 billion, two people familiar with the negotiations said Monday, May 25, 2015. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

This Feb. 2, 2009 file photo shows a Time Warner Cable truck in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — It wasn’t a robocall, but a federal judge left a message anyway for companies Tuesday when he awarded nearly $230,000 to a Texas woman, finding that a cable company crossed the line when it harassed her with 153 robocalls even after she complained about the wrong numbers.

U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan ordered Time Warner Cable Inc. to make the $229,500 payment to Araceli King of Irving, Texas, citing the New York-based company’s “particularly egregious” behavior as it violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991.

King sued last year, saying she had repeatedly asked the company to stop making the calls.

Susan Leepson, a Time Warner spokeswoman, said the company is reviewing its options and determining how to proceed.

Hellerstein said he tripled the $1,500 penalty for each call because Time Warner’s actions were “particularly egregious” since it continued making the calls even after King complained in a seven-minute phone conversation in October 2013 with a company representative that the calls to her phone were apparently meant for a customer she did not know. The judge noted that 74 of the calls were made after Time Warner received a copy of King’s lawsuit in March 2014.

The company’s “recurring theme” in its legal arguments was that it was an unwitting victim of an unpredictable federal law that was not intended to turn an innocuous call to a wrong number into large damages, the judge said.

“The responsible company will reduce its exposure dramatically by taking proactive steps to mitigate damages, while its competitor, who unthinkingly robo-dials the same person hundreds of time over many months without pausing to wonder why it cannot reach him, cannot complain about much higher liability,” the judge wrote.

King’s lawyer, Sergei Lemberg, said his client is delighted. He said the decision sends a message to consumers to “stop taking it on the chin” when robocalls don’t stop and a message to companies that it’s necessary to pay attention to human beings, even when technology is used to make repeated calls.

“Millions of U.S. consumers get robocalls. Only a few of them take it a step forward and get a lawyer,” the Stamford, Connecticut, attorney said.

___

This story has been corrected to show the name of the Texas city is Irving, not Irwing.

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Art

After 10-Year Wait, Fillmore Heritage Center Reopens in San Francisco

After serving as the economic and cultural hub of the Fillmore’s historically Black community for more than a decade, the center’s closure ended what was called the “Rebirth of the Cool,” referring to the neighborhood’s role during the height of Black Jazz in the United States.

Published

12 hours ago

June 10, 2026

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Rev. Amos Brown of Third Baptist Church addresses community members at the Fillmore Heritage Center ribbon cutting. Photo by Linda Parker Pennington.

By Linda Parker Pennington, Special to The Post

Last Saturday morning, the cloudy skies cleared just as the highly anticipated ribbon-cutting ceremony began, marking the reopening of the Fillmore Heritage Center at 1330 Fillmore and Eddy.

The complex – which had once included Yoshi’s Jazz Club, the Lush Life Art Gallery, the Koret Heritage Lobby, a 54-seat microcinema, and the Black-owned 1300 On Fillmore restaurant – shuttered in 2015.

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie announcing the reopening of the Fillmore Heritage Center. Erika Scott, owner of Honey Art Studio, looks on with pride. Photo by Linda Parker Pennington.

“The Fillmore is the most important neighborhood in San Francisco’s history for centering Black culture, music, business, and community, and has shaped this City and influenced the entire country,” said San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie to the gathering of more than 100 community leaders, business owners, and public officials. “This building reflects the deep roots of the Fillmore. Urban renewal left deep scars that are still felt today. This Center celebrates a strong Black community that continues to shape San Francisco. I am proud to join the community as we reopen the Fillmore Heritage Center.”

Although the previous stakeholders will not be returning to the center, spaces are available for nonprofit organizations and ventures, such as Fillmore native Ericka Johnson’s Honey Art Studio.

“This Center will be an economic engine and a thriving venue that shines a light on the Black-owned businesses in this neighborhood and lifts the entire district,” Lurie continued. “Our City is committed to this community for the long term.”

“We’re excited to collaborate with the City to finally reopen these doors,” said Ken Johnson, a videographer and community leader who’d been lobbying for the reopening of the center. “It’s an opportunity to showcase the entrepreneurship and creative spirit of this ‘Harlem of the West’ and the ‘Rebirth of the Cool,’ grounded in our uniquely gifted Fillmore community.”

This month, through its Office of Economic and Workforce Development, the city will begin renting the building’s noncommercial spaces for pop-up events celebrating local talent, arts, and entertainment primarily centered in the Fillmore.