The AP reports a class-action suit against Papa John’s was certified by the US District Court for the Western District of Washington. The lawsuit says “Papa John’s violated state and federal law when they had the marketing company OnTime4U send unsolicited text messages on its behalf to cell phones advertising their pizza products.” The suit alleges 500,000 illegal text messages were sent and the company “faces potential damages of more than $250 million,” with each plaintiff potentially receiving “$500 or more in damages for each text message.”
CNN Money reports, “The spam texts offered deals for pizza, and some customers complained they were getting 15 or 16 texts in a row, even during the middle of the night, according Donald Heyrich, an attorney representing the class.” He added that the suit “could lead to the largest damages awards ever recovered under the” Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, which prohbits companies from sending advertisements via text message if consumers haven’t first opted into the service. “Caroline Oyler, Papa John’s head of legal affairs, said that Papa John’s corporate text messaging program is not subject to the lawsuit, as the text were sent ‘by third-party vendors and a small number of franchisees.’” She added that the company “sees ‘no basis’ for the plaintiff’s estimate of $250 million.”
The Portland (OR) Business Journal and the International Business Times also cover this story.
From the American Association for Justice news release.
