Robert D. Cline.

What a name.

Straight out of a novel.

Well, Robert has declined to live a normal life and–instead–has turned to a life of abusing the court system… IMO at least.

Specifically, “Kline, an adult individual who lives in McClure, Pennsylvania, is a serial litigant who has brought over four hundred lawsuits in Mifflin and Snyder Counties, including numerous suits for alleged Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) violations.”

Eesh.

In Kline v. Novick, 2024 WL 35264 (Sup. Crt. PA 2024) an appellate court affirmed a dismissal of Kline’s case against a challenge from a Defendant that the case should have been barred as a serial litigation of a similar claim brought in earlier cases.

The Defendant wanted the case kicked for a couple of reasons but the Court ultimately found a lack of jurisdiction over the Florida insurance agent sued in the case.

Apparently Kline had already sued the agent’s agency in federal court and had that case kicked out. So he turned around and sued the agent personally in state court. That lead to the agent moving to dismiss the state suit.

In response to the challenge Kline apparently asked the court to allow him to dismiss so that he (Kline) could sue in florida. The PA judge went ahead and found a lack of jurisdiction and dismissed the suit.

As a result of the ruling Kline will be free to re-file the case against the Defendant in Florida–which is an ironic result.

So, for those of you keeping track at home, guy sues company under TCPA. Loses. So guy sues employee of company for the same thing. Loses. So guy plans to sue employee again for the same thing, in a different state.

And people wonder why I suggest TCPA litigation is abusive…

Notably, according to Court filings Mr. D. Cline has brought at least 194 pro se cases in Mifflin County since 2017 and 188 pro se cases in Snyder County since 2001. So 382 cases in two PA counties. Those are some serious stats.