Mo. Judge Refers Thompsons’ TCPA Claims vs. Vintage Stock to ADR

U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark for Eastern Missouri in St. Louis signed an order Wednesday (docket 4:23-cv-00042) referring to alternative dispute resolution (ADR) the Telephone Consumer Protection Act claims against home entertainment retailer Vintage Stock. The order gives Vintage and plaintiffs Sheila and Dennis Thompson until July 15 to conclude their ADR conferences. The parties may conduct the ADR conferences “at any location to which the parties, counsel, and the assigned neutral agree,” it said. The order designates the Thompsons’ attorney, Robert Schultz of Schultz Law Group, as lead counsel, with the responsibility of “working with the parties and the neutral to coordinate an agreeable date, time, and, if necessary, location for the initial ADR conference,” it said. The judge said in an April 16 memorandum and order that the Thompsons were correct to ask him to remand, rather than dismiss, count 2 of their first amended TCPA complaint against Vintage Stock to St. Louis County Circuit Court where it originated before the home entertainment retailer removed it in January 2023 (see 2404170002).