A District Court judge in Pennsylvania has granted a plaintiff’s motion to certify a class action in a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act suit where the defendant was accused of sending text messages to the plaintiff after the plaintiff allegedly opted out of receiving texts.
The background: The plaintiff filed the lawsuit after receiving text messages from the defendant despite following instructions to opt out. The defendant provided an option for consumers to opt out of further communication by replying “STOP” to its messages, which the plaintiff did. However, even after receiving confirmation that she had successfully unsubscribed and would no longer receive text messages, the defendant allegedly continued to send texts to the plaintiff. This prompted the plaintiff to file a lawsuit under the FDCPA, citing violations of the consumer’s right to privacy and the failure of the defendant to honor the opt-out request.
The plaintiff sought to represent not only herself but also a larger class of individuals who had experienced similar violations.
The ruling: Judge Karoline Mehalchick of the District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania addressed two key issues: the plaintiff’s standing to file the lawsuit and whether the case met the requirements for class certification.
- On the standing issue, Judge Mehalchick determined that receiving unwanted text messages after opting out constitutes a concrete injury sufficient for Article III standing. The court likened this harm to the common-law tort of intrusion upon seclusion, noting that even a single unwanted message can establish concrete harm in the context of the FDCPA.
- Regarding class certification, Judge Mehalchick found that the plaintiff met all the necessary requirements. The judge rejected the defendant’s argument that the class definition was an impermissible “fail-safe” class, noting that the definition did not presuppose liability under the FDCPA.
- The proposed class potentially includes more than 4,000 individuals.
