Text Message Spam Lawsuit Against Papa John’s Pizza Certified as Class Action

The lawsuit brought against Papa John’s Pizza for mass-spamming customers with 500,000+ unwanted texts has been certified as a class action.  On November 9, 2012, the Washington federal court overseeing the case issued the ruling, which means that every individual in the country receiving these unwanted texts will be eligible for inclusion as part of the class.

The lawsuit was brought after Papa John’s issued 500,000 text messages to customers advertising its pizza. The individual named plaintiffs are Maria Agne, Erin Chitich, and Jerrod Chutich. The lawsuit alleged that Papa John’s violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”).  The TCPA prohibits companies from contacting consumers on their cell phones without prior consent.  The plaintiffs allege that they never gave prior consent to Papa John’s or its franchisees to receive text message advertisements.

According to the Washington federal court, the class consists of “[a]ll persons in the United States of America who were sent, to their cellular telephone numbers, at least one unsolicited text message that marketed a Papa John’s branded product, good, or service…”  Papa John’s could face fines of $500 to $1500 per each of the 500,000 unwanted text messages.  In all, Papa John’s faces up to $250 million in fines for sending unwanted text messages to class members.

Have your rights as a consumer been violated?  If so, please call Khorrami, LLP for a confidential consultation.

About these ads