Debt Collectors Forced to Pay $1.5m After Filthy, Racist Voicemails
A Texas debt collection company had a unique style for reminder voicemails to one black customer. "This is your motherfucking wake-up call you little lazy ass bitch. Get your motherfucking nigger ass up and go pick some motherfucking cotton fields."
Allen Jones was told he owed $200 on some credit cards. He disputed the debt. The issue was apparently dealt with by a company called Advanced Call Center Technologies, LLC, back in 2007. They left eight or so voicemail messages demanding the money, according to the local news network, WFAA, who reported the story. The one transcribed above is apparently the mildest, and the only one they felt able to run in any form at all.
Jones sued and was awarded $50,000 for mental anguish and a whopping $1.5m in punitive damages. Here's the report.