Papa John’s Text Message Spam Class Action

A United States District Court judge has certified a huge text message spam class action case against Papa John’s International Inc. The nationwide lawsuit was given the go-ahead on November 9, 2012, and carries potential damages of over $250 million.Filed under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”), the class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of Papa John’s customers across America who received unwanted text messages advertising Papa John’s pizza. 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. Upwards of 500,000 illegal text messages were sent to Papa John’s customers across the U.S.; these customers may be awarded $500 or more in statutory damages for each text message received. The suit was certified by U.S. District Court Judge John C. Coughenour.One of the plaintiffs in the case stated in a news release, “After I ordered from Papa John’s, my telephone started beeping with text messages advertising pizza specials. Papa John’s never asked permission to send me text message advertisements. Hopefully, this will be an important victory for consumers. Our lawsuit is about keeping spam from spreading from our e-mail to our cell phones.”Although many customers told Papa John’s they no longer wanted to get text messages advertising pizza, thousands of “spam” texts kept going out to customers’ cell phones. This lawsuit, and its potential statutory damages, may serve as a wake-up call to corporations and advertisers; consumers do not want spam on their mobile phones, and are willing to go to court over the issue. Papa John’s has yet to respond to questions about the suit; the company is still fielding off bad press surrounding the CEO’s cold remarks on Obamacare.So, what should you do when you get an unsolicited text message? Contact Mike Agruss Law to discuss your rights under the TCPA. We will aggressively enforce the law to stop unsolicited text messages. Not only will we stop text message spam, but you may be entitled to money damages, too. Damages in TCPA cases range from $500.00 – $1,500.00 per text. Contact Mike Agruss Law today at 888-572-0176 or at www.StopTextMessages.com