Tag Archives: Advertising

“…each alleged violation of the act, which consists of a brand sending an unsolicited advertisement via phone call or text message without prior consent, carries up to $500 in statutory damages…text messages allegedly were sent to thousands of Papa John’s customers without their consent because OnTime4U obtained the cell phone numbers of customers from the implicated franchisees…”

A U.S. District Court judge in Seattle has certified a class-action lawsuit against Papa John’s International Inc., calling for as much as $250 million in damages for the alleged transmission of 500,000 text messages to consumers who claim they did not consent to receive such texts.

Three named Papa John’s customers and potentially many more are suing the Louisville, Ky.-based operator or franchisor of 4,000 Papa John’s Pizza restaurants for allegedly violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

The lawsuit, first filed in February by Washington state resident Maria Agne, stems from text messages Agne claims she received without her consent in April 2010. The texts, which promoted Papa John’s products and offers, allegedly came from marketing services provider OnTime4U, which had contracted with several Papa John’s franchisees in the Pacific Northwest.

OnTime4U allegedly indicated to the franchisees — who operate as many as 21 Seattle-area units in Rain City’s case and 12 Portland, Ore.-area restaurants in Rose City’s case — that those messages would not be considered spam or violate the TCPA because those customers had previously ordered a pizza from the franchisees, establishing an “existing business relationship,” which exempts calls and texts from oversight of the TCPA.

According to Coughenour’s order, Kevin Sonneborn, franchisee of PJ Sound Pizza LLC, testified that customers were not asked for their permission to send text messages before their phone numbers were given to OnTime4U.