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Over the next few weeks the Missouri Legislature will consider HB 2241. This legislation will help protect small business owners from frivolous lawsuits and limit frivolous damage awards in certain class action lawsuits. While this legislation would protect Missouri’s small business owners, opponents to this legislation will stop at nothing to preserve this legal loophole that allows for the abuse of Missouri’s legal system.
The Missouri Justice Alliance, a project of the Missouri Chamber Legal Foundation, urges you to contact your state legislator and encourage them to support House Bill 2241.
HB 2241, currently before the House Judiciary Committee, would change the laws regarding merchandising practices and the requirements for maintaining an action for unlawful merchandising practices. Specifically it would require proof of ascertainable loss and require a person seeking to recover actual damages to prove loss with sufficiently definite evidence to allow the loss to be calculated with a reasonable degree of certainty, and if such evidence is not presented then actual damages will be limited to the person’s “out-of-pocket loss.” The proposed legislation would also require proof of causation. In the case of a class action, each class member would be required to prove that the method, act, or practice declared unlawful under the consumer protection act caused the class member to enter into the transaction that resulted in his or her damages. In addition, each class member would also have to be able to prove actual damages.
There are only a few weeks left to pass this important legislation. Please take a moment to send an email to your legislator letting them know that you support protecting small business owners from frivolous litigation and urge them to vote in favor of HB 2241.
Send a letter to the Missouri Legislature today urging support for House Bill 2241! Simply fill out the privacy-protected registration form below, then click the Take Action button to review your letter.