Papa John's is facing a pricey lawsuit for sending out some unwanted text messages. The popular pizza chain may have to pay up $250 million.
A class-action lawsuit was filed against the pizza chain after hundreds of customers received illegal text messages. The plaintiffs say the company sent 500,000 unwanted text messages in 2010.
Customers would receive text messages that they didn't sign up for, about deals on pizza. Some customers received dozens of text messages in a row and they even got them in the middle of the night.
"After I ordered from Papa John's, my telephone started beeping with text messages advertising pizza specials," Erin Chutich, one of the plaintiffs, said according to CNN. "Papa John's never asked permission to send me text message advertisements."
Papa Johns utilized a mass text message service, OnTime4U. The pizza chain was first sued for the illegal text messages in April 2012 and they claimed to have dropped their partnership with the company. The franchises were made aware that the text messages were illegal.
Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, companies cannot send text message advertisements to customres unless they agree to receive them.
The plaintiffs seek $500 per text and could receive up to $1,500 per text if the jury rules that Papa John's willfully broke the law. This would be the largest damages award that was ever received under the TCPA.
"We have noticed text message spam is increasing in part because advertisers see it as a great way to get their material directly into the hands of customers," attorney Donald Heyrich said, according to CNN. "We hope this case keeps text message spam out of cellphones."
Papa Johns disagrees with the lawsuit of $250 million. U.S. District Court Judge John Coughenour certified the lawsuit on Nov. 9 in Seatle. The company plans to appeal the ruling.
"We don't agree with it and will continue to aggressively defend it," Caroline Oyler, Papa John's head of legal affairs, said according to CNN. "We'll continue to litigate the case and defend the lawsuit and move to have it dismissed."
After the news of the lawsuit broke, shares of Papa John's dropped. Papa John's International Inc.'s stock fell 34 cents to $49.10 in afternoon trading after hitting as low as $46.72 during the earlier session.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
