Yahoo Facing TCPA Lawsuit

The internet service provider Yahoo! is facing a serious Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action lawsuit in Philadelphia. The lead plaintiff Bill H. Dominguez sued Yahoo! in Federal Court, for sending 4,700 unwanted spam text messages to his cell phone.Dominguez bought a cell phone in December 2011 and was assigned a phone number that had been previously held by Jose Gonzalez, who had been a Yahoo subscriber. Yahoo! offers its customers free email and text message alerts—but Dominguez did not want this service. He called Yahoo! to complain, and was told “there was nothing that could be done to stop the texts unless the former owner of the telephone number accessed the password-protected account and authorized Yahoo! to stop the messages.” Dominguez asked to speak with a supervisor; the supervisor, who identified himself as Castro, told him the same thing—the unsolicited text messages would only stop when the former owner of the account asked. Dominguez had never met Gonzalez and had no way of contacting him; so he told the supervisor that litigation might be his only option. Castro replied ‘so sue me.’And Dominguez did, filing suit under the TCPA. He’s asking statutory damages of $500 for each violation of the law, and treble damages, which would come to more than $7 million. The unwanted deluge of spam texts actually increased while he owned the phone, running to 50-60 unsolicited text messages every day, all day and night. From November 2012 to April 5, 2013, Yahoo! sent more than 4,700 unsolicited text messages to Dominguez, who also filed complaints with the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission, to no avail.The TCPA restricts telephone solicitations, the use of automated telephone equipment, and unsolicited advertisements. Specifically, the TCPA limits the use of automatic dialing systems, prerecorded voice messages, unsolicited text messages, and junk faxes. So, what should you do when you get a robocall or an unsolicited text message? Hang up the phone. Do not press 1 or any other numbers to get off the list. Then, contact Mike Agruss Law, for a free consultation. The Federal Trade Commission has stopped billions, yes billions, of robocalls in the last two years. Mike Agruss Law, will do the same for you. We will aggressively enforce the law to stop robocalls and unsolicited text message. Not only will we stop the calls and text messages, but you may be entitled to money damages, too. Damages in TCPA cases range from $500.00 – $1,500.00 per call or text.