The Citizens Disability lawsuit story really covers three resolved cases from 2025: a Federal Trade Commission enforcement action that ended with a $1 million payment, a private class action under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act that settled for $320,000, and a New York state consent order for $125,000. All three centered on the same conduct — deceptive and unwanted robocalls pitching help with Social Security Disability Insurance benefits.
The FTC Case and $1 Million Settlement
On September 30, 2025, the Department of Justice, acting on an FTC referral, filed a complaint and proposed consent decree against Citizens Disability, LLC and its subsidiary CD Media, LLC in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, case number 1:25-cv-12826.1FTC. Citizens Disability Complaint The FTC voted 3-0 to refer the matter, alleging violations of the Telemarketing Sales Rule and Section 5 of the FTC Act.2FTC. Citizens Disability To Pay $1 Million Over FTC Charges It Made Tens of Millions of Illegal, Misleading Calls
The numbers are the heart of the case. Between January 2019 and July 2022, Citizens Disability and its call centers placed more than 109 million outbound telemarketing calls. More than 25.7 million went to numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry.2FTC. Citizens Disability To Pay $1 Million Over FTC Charges It Made Tens of Millions of Illegal, Misleading Calls Many were prerecorded messages from voices identifying themselves as “Amber” or “Audrey,” falsely telling recipients that records showed they had “recently inquired about your eligibility for Social Security Disability benefits.” In many cases the consumer had never made such an inquiry, and the FTC noted the calls disproportionately reached lower-income and disabled people.
The consent decree imposed a $2 million civil penalty, suspended in part. The companies had to pay $1 million within one year of entry of the order, with the full $2 million becoming due immediately if they were later found to have misrepresented their finances.2FTC. Citizens Disability To Pay $1 Million Over FTC Charges It Made Tens of Millions of Illegal, Misleading Calls The order also permanently bars the companies from using prerecorded robocalls for telemarketing, from telemarketing to any number on the Do Not Call Registry, and from falsely claiming to be responding to a consumer’s prior inquiry about SSDI eligibility. It further requires them to vet and monitor any third-party lead generators they use.
Judge Richard G. Stearns approved the consent judgment on October 15, 2025, and the case was terminated.3PACER Monitor. United States of America v. Citizens Disability, LLC et al The $1 million penalty goes to the U.S. Treasury, not to individual consumers; there is no FTC-run redress fund from this case.
The Shutler TCPA Class Action and $320,000 Settlement
The private class action was filed on October 25, 2023, by Michael Shutler in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, case number 2:23-cv-14337-KMM. Shutler alleged that Citizens Disability made prerecorded robocalls to his cell phone without his consent through a platform called Pipes.ai, after his number had been on the Do Not Call Registry since February 2023.4ClassAction.org. Shutler v. Citizens Disability LLC Complaint
The certified class was narrow. It covered roughly 3,412 people in the United States who answered prerecorded calls Citizens Disability placed through Pipes.ai between November 8, 2019, and October 25, 2023, where the company’s only lead source for that person was a website called GrantsAssistanceForYou.com — described by the court as a “consent farm” that collected consumer information and sold the leads.5ClassAction.org. $320K Citizens Disability Settlement Ends Class Action Lawsuit Over Allegedly Illegal Prerecorded Calls6FindLaw. Shutler v. Citizens Disability LLC
The parties settled for $320,000. Judge K. Michael Moore granted preliminary approval on January 31, 2025, and final approval on June 3, 2025. Class members had to opt out by March 17, 2025, and had to file a claim by May 22, 2025, to receive payment. Pro rata payments went out on December 23, 2025, from the fund remaining after attorneys’ fees, service awards, and administrative costs.7Citizens Disability TCPA Litigation. Settlement Website Claim forms are no longer being accepted.
The New York State Consent Order
The New York Department of State signed its own consent order with Citizens Disability and National Disability (a trade name of CD Media, LLC) on May 5, 2025. The state alleged the companies violated New York General Business Law §399-z by making unsolicited telemarketing calls to New York residents whose numbers had been on the national Do Not Call Registry for at least 31 days.8New York Department of State. Citizens Disability Consent Order
Citizens Disability agreed to pay a $125,000 civil penalty and is barred from contacting any New York resident on the registry without documented express consent. The company must avoid further violations of the state’s telemarketing law for three years, and cannot provide operational support to any entity that violates the same law for one year. Noncompliance triggers referral to the state Attorney General’s office.
How the Calls Were Placed
The FTC’s complaint describes a lead-generation pipeline built on more than 50 lead generators and more than 15 call centers. Between January 2019 and May 2023, roughly 90% of Citizens Disability’s leads came from third-party lead generators, primarily Fluent, Inc. and Digital Media Solutions, Inc.1FTC. Citizens Disability Complaint Those companies ran “consent farm” websites offering sweepstakes entries, coupons, or home insurance quotes, and collected names and phone numbers while burying the telemarketing disclosure in fine print or behind hyperlinks.9FTC. Are You in the Telemarketing Business? Heres What To Know About Citizens Disability
CD Media, the subsidiary handling much of the marketing, operated under at least ten different names, including National Disability, American Disability, American Disability Helpline, Christian Disability, Citizens Disability Integration, Debt Legal Group, Disability Referral, Disability Referrals, Local Disability, and United States Disability.10FTC. Cases and Proceedings: Citizens Disability The FTC treated Citizens Disability and CD Media as a “common enterprise” sharing ownership, managers, employees, and office space.
Earlier TCPA Suits
The Shutler case was not the first TCPA action against Citizens Disability. Earlier suits included Gaker v. Citizens Disability, LLC (D. Mass. No. 1:20-cv-11031), filed in May 2020 and terminated in February 2023, which involved sweepstakes marketing and lead-generation partners.11CourtListener. Gaker v. Citizens Disability, LLC Another, Thrower v. Citizens Disability, LLC (D. Mass. No. 1:20-cv-10285), was filed in February 2020.12Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. Thrower v. Citizens Disability Complaint The FTC complaint also referenced cases titled King v. Citizens Disability and Gill v. Citizens Disability, and court records in the Shutler case noted that the plaintiff’s law firm alone represented seventeen clients with claims against the company.6FindLaw. Shutler v. Citizens Disability LLC
If You Received a Call or Were a Customer
All three resolved matters are closed to new claims. The FTC penalty does not create a consumer redress fund. The Shutler class action’s claim deadline passed on May 22, 2025, and payments were distributed on December 23, 2025.7Citizens Disability TCPA Litigation. Settlement Website The New York consent order is an enforcement action by the state, not a consumer-payment program.
Neither the FTC action nor the Shutler class action named any individual Citizens Disability executives as defendants; both cases targeted only the corporate entities.1FTC. Citizens Disability Complaint13BBB. Citizens Disability LLC BBB Profile2FTC. Citizens Disability To Pay $1 Million Over FTC Charges It Made Tens of Millions of Illegal, Misleading Calls