Court case not the way Whataburger likes it

Whataburger has sued a debt collection company, claiming it's made harassing calls to the fast food chain's corporate headquarters to get an unidentified employee to pay up on an alleged debt. Whataburger has sued a debt collection company, claiming it's made harassing calls to the fast food chain's corporate headquarters to get an unidentified employee to pay up on an alleged debt. Photo: DirectToArchive Photo: DirectToArchive Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Court case not the way Whataburger likes it 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Everyone hates harassing calls from unrelenting debt collectors, even the folks at Whataburger Restaurants.

Exasperated officials at the San Antonio-based burger chain have gone to court in an attempt to stop persistent collections calls made to its corporate headquarters to get an unidentified employee to pay up on a debt allegedly owed.

Whataburger last week sued NCO Financial Systems, saying the collection efforts of one of the nation's largest debt collectors "amount to a campaign of harassment against Whataburger that is unreasonable ... and reckless."

H. Anthony Hervol, a San Antonio lawyer who defends individuals in debt-collection disputes, called Whataburger's action "very unusual."

"I guess the word I would use is refreshing," Hervol said when asked for a reaction. "It's good to see that an employer would step in, rather than blame the employee - which is what debt collectors want them to do."

In an email, Whataburger General Counsel Mike Gibbs would neither comment on the lawsuit nor share any information on the case or the unidentified employee. There were no details in the lawsuit about the type of debt or the amount allegedly owed.

Privately held Whataburger employs 400 people at its headquarters. Overall, it employs more than 22,000.

Calls to NCO in Horsham, Pa., were not returned.

In the lawsuit, Whataburger claims the calls from NCO have kept coming despite a July 16 cease-and-desist letter to the company. More than 50 calls from NCO have been made to the restaurant company's toll-free number since June, the suit says.

NCO's "disruptive conduct causes phone lines to ring, keeping the phone lines as well as Whataburger employees occupied and prohibiting (them) from performing their respective duties," the suit claims.

It's common for collection companies to call debtors at their workplace, Hervol said.

"One of the problems with debtor collectors is that they know if they try to collect at your place of employment, that you're going to worry about your job and somehow that's going to help them collect the debt," he said.

Whataburger seeks unspecified actual damages - toll charges for long-distance calls to its headquarters - and punitive damages from NCO.

Whataburger alleges NCO made at least 27 calls after the chain issued its cease-and-desist letter, violating the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. For that, Whataburger says in the suit, the debt collector is liable for damages of up to $1,000 for each violation.

NCO also is accused by Whataburger of violating the Texas Debt Collection Act, which carries a minimum $100 penalty for each violation. The suit was filed Aug. 16 in Bexar County District Court.

NCO also has landed in authorities' cross hairs. Earlier this year, it agreed to change its collection practices as part of a settlement with 19 state attorneys general. It agreed to set aside $950,000, or $50,000 for each state, in restitution for eligible consumers.

Texas was not part of that settlement. But in 2008, NCO resolved an enforcement action brought by the state over charges it "unlawfully made harassing and threatening phone calls to purported debtors," according to the attorney general's office.

NCO, which has operations in San Antonio, is part of Expert Global Solutions, a publicly traded company that generated about $1.5 billion in revenue in 2011.

pdanner@express-news.net