HARRISBURG - A Harrisburg man is suing an electric utility company, alleging he has been receiving unwanted phone calls.
Cody Schmick filed a lawsuit June 8 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania against Verde Energy USA Inc. of Norwalk, Conn.
According to the complaint, in October 2014, Schmick began receiving calls on his cell phone from the defendant and the calls were made using an automatic telephone dialing system and prerecorded messages, and were not made for emergency purposes. As per his cell phone service policy, Schmick incurs a charge for each incoming call, the suit says.
Despite speaking with the defendant to stop these unwanted calls and the defendant acknowledging his revocation of consent in late December 2014, Schmick has continued to receive the calls with the most recent one occurring in April, the lawsuit states.
The suit faults Verde Energy with negligent disregard for the plaintiff's rights under the law and violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
Schmick seeks actual damages, in addition to statutory and treble damages of $500 and $1,500 per each "violative telephone call," respectively. He is represented by attorney Craig Thor Kimmel of Kimmel & Silverman in Ambler.
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania case number: 1:15-cv-01118-WWC.