When American Home Services sought to advertise its siding, window and gutter installation business in Atlanta, it hired a Texas company that faxed more than 300,000 advertisements across the metro area.
A Fast Sign Co., a Norcross company that does business as Fastsigns and which received one of those faxes, filed suit and accused American Home Services of breaking a federal consumer law that forbids companies from faxing unsolicited ads. A Fulton County judge agreed and issued a $459 million judgment against the company -- $1,500 for each of the 306,000 junk faxes.
On Monday, the Georgia Supreme Court heard arguments as to whether that ruling should stick. The court is reviewing a decision issued a year ago by the state Court of Appeals that overturned the trial judge's decision. The appeals court said what mattered was how many faxes were received, not the number of faxes sent on behalf of American Home Services.
A lawyer for Fastsigns asked the Supreme Court to overturn that decision and reinstate the $459 million judgment.
Atlanta lawyer Michael Jablonski said the language of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 is "plan and unambiguous" in that it says a company violates the law by sending the unsolicited faxes. "The mere fact you are sending causes damages of national scope," he said.
But Celeste McCollough, a lawyer for American Home Services, said the appeals court decision should be upheld because it does justice.
"There is no actual injury when a telephone facsimile is sent but not received," she told the court, which is expected to issue its decision sometime this year.
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