Caribou Coffee recently agreed to settle a class action lawsuit that alleged the company violated provisions authorized by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). Primary plaintiff Kristie Farnham alleged in the Caribou class action lawsuit that the company sent about 50 text messages that started in March of 2016. Farnham asserted she never consented to receiving the text messages from Caribous coffee, as required by the TCPA.
Farnham alleged Caribou sent the unsolicited text messages via automated dialing equipment that possessed the capability to send phone calls and text messages at the same time. The Caribou class action lawsuit requested statutory damages between $500 and $1,500 for every text message that violated the TCPA.
Passed by the United States Congress in 1991, the TCPA prohibits unauthorized spamming of products and services. Initially created to deal with annoying telemarketer telephone calls, the TCPA has expanded its legal coverage to include text messages. Business and organizations must receive prior consent from consumers to send advertising text messages and make marketing telephone calls.
Caribou Coffee continues to deny the charges made in the class action lawsuit. However, the company agreed to settle the class action lawsuit to avoid the uncertainty of a civil trial. In addition to compensating eligible class members, Caribous has agreed to refrain from sending advertising text messages to consumers who do want to receive the messages.
What You Need To Know About the Caribou Coffee Class Action Settlement
According to court documents, eligible class members “include anyone residing in the United States who, between May 5, 2012 and July 28, 2017, received one or more text messages sent to their cell phone number by or on behalf of Caribou Coffee. Class Members who would like to opt out of or object to the Caribou Coffee settlement must do so no later than Oct. 13, 2017.” The potential award depends on the number of eligible class members who file valid and timely claim forms. Although a proof of purchase is not required, class members must provide the cell phone numbers that received the unauthorized text messages from Caribou Coffee. Class members must also “declare under perjury that they received at least one text message from Caribou Between May 5, 2012 and July 28, 2017.”
Class members have until November 11, 2017 to submit a valid claim form. The judge ruling over the case Kristie Farnham v. Caribou Coffee Company Inc., Case No. 3:16-cv-00295-WMC, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin has scheduled the final class action settlement hearing on November 27, 2017. Find out what happened at the final hearing by downloading the transcript from www.CaribouTCPASettlement.com. The class action settlement website also presents the list of attorneys for the class and defense counsels.
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