Business Law 12th Edition by Roger LeRoy Miller ,Frank Cross

Exercise 8

Invasion of Privacy During the spring and summer of 1999, Edward and Geneva Irvine received numerous "hang-up" phone calls, including three calls in the middle of the night. With the help of their local phone company, the Irvines learned that many of the calls were from the telemarketing department of the Akron Beacon Journal in Akron, Ohio. The Beacon's sales force was equipped with an automatic dialing machine. During business hours, the dialer was used to maximize productivity by calling multiple phone numbers at once and connecting a call to a sales representative only after it was answered. After business hours, the Beacon programmed its dialer to dial a list of disconnected numbers to determine whether they had been reconnected. If the dialer detected a ring, it recorded the information and dropped the call. If the automated dialing system crashed, which happened frequently, it redialed the entire list. The Irvines filed a suit in an Ohio state court against the Beacon and others, alleging, among other things, an invasion of privacy. In whose favor should the court rule, and why? [ Irvine v. Akron Beacon Journal, 147 Ohio App.3d 428, 770 N.E.2d 1105 (9 Dist. 2002)]