Gannett Co. TCPA class action lawsuit settlement

Update:

• Top Class Actions readers reported this settlement paying out up to $15.01 in a second distribution as of Sept. 29, 2023.
• Congratulations to everyone who filed a claim and got paid!

Gannett Co. Inc. has agreed to pay $13.8 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging the company violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) when it placed calls to cellphones using an automatic telephone dialing system.

Gannett is a media and marketing company headquartered in Virginia with a portfolio of broadcast, digital, mobile and publishing companies. Gannett’s 82 daily newspapers, including USA Today, make it one of the largest newspaper publishers in the U.S. as measured by total daily circulation.

In 2014, plaintiffs Ramona Clark and Dylan Schlossberg filed a class action lawsuit against Gannett claiming the company directed its agents to make unsolicited telemarketing calls to thousands of consumers’ cell phones in an effort to increase subscriptions to its newspapers.

However, the plaintiffs assert that Gannett failed to obtain prior express consent from consumers to make such calls, and in many cases, ignored consumer requests to no longer be called – a violation of the federal law known as the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

The TCPA was enacted to protect consumers from unsolicited and repeated commercial telephone calls by regulating the use of autodialers and prohibiting the use of artificial or prerecorded voices to make nonemergency calls to cellphone numbers without the recipient’s prior consent.

It was alleged Gannett violated the TCPA by placing multiple daily calls using an autodialing system to make sales calls to convince consumers to sign-up or renew their subscriptions.

Under the terms of the class action lawsuit settlement, Gannett will pay $13.8 million to resolve claims that it violated the TCPA.

Additionally, Gannett has agreed to provide training concerning TCPA compliance to key managers who oversee telemarketing calls to consumers within one year of the settlement effective date.

Gannett will also conduct a review of its internal TCPA compliance procedures and the TCPA compliance procedures of any vendor that conducts telemarketing on Gannett’s behalf during that year.

Gannett denies that the telephone calls violated the law.

Class Members who wish to object to the terms of the settlement or wish to be excluded from the settlement must do so by Oct. 21, 2016.

UPDATE: On Nov. 14, 2016, the Court granted final approval of the Gannett TCPA class action settlement. However, there was an objector to the approval who now has the right to file an appeal. 

Who’s Eligible

The settlement includes a Class of “all persons in the United States or its territories or possessions to whom Gannett or anyone acting on Gannett’s behalf placed or caused to be placed a call to such Person’s telephone number when it was assigned to a cellular telephone service using any automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice without prior express consent of the called party between January 2, 2010 and August 4, 2016.”

Most Class Members will receive either an email or a postcard summary of the notice. If you did not receive one of these notices but believe you are a Class Member, contact the settlement administrator at 1-855-730-8623.

Potential Award

VARIES.

The $13.8 million settlement pool will be divided pro rata among all qualified Class Members after payment of attorneys’ fees, settlement administration expenses, and incentive fee awards.

Proof of Purchase

N/A.

Eligible Class Members must provide the cellphone number on which calls were received.

Claim Form

CLICK HERE TO FILE A CLAIM »

Claim Form Deadline

11/05/2016

Case Name

Clark and Schlossberg v. Gannett Co. Inc., Case No. 16-CH-06603, in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois County Department, Chancery Division

Final Hearing

11/09/2016

UPDATE: As of February 1, 2017, the Gannett TCPA Class Action Settlement is under appeal.  Claims will not be paid until all appeals are exhausted.  We appreciate your ongoing patience. Top Class Actions will continue to provide updates as we learn more. 

UPDATE 2: The appeal to the Gannett TCPA Class Action Settlement was resolved on February 19, 2019. Let Top Class Actions know when you receive a check in the comments section below or on our Facebook page.

UPDATE 3: On April 20, 2019, Top Class Actions viewers started receiving checks in the mail from the Gannett telemarketing calls class action settlement worth $163.91. Congratulations to everyone who filed a claim and got PAID!

Settlement Website

www.GannettTCPASettlement.com

Claims Administrator

Clark and Schlossberg v. Gannett
Settlement Administrator
PO Box 43429
Providence, RI 02940-9953
855-730-8623

Class Counsel

Rafey S. Balabanian
Benjamin H. Richman
Eve-Lynn J. Rapp
EDELSON PC

Stefan L. Coleman
LAW OFFICES OF STEFAN L. COLEMEN PA

Defense Counsel

Matthew J. Fedor
DRINKER BIDDLE & REATH LLP

Join a Free TCPA Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you were contacted on your cell phone by a company via an unsolicited text message (text spam) or prerecorded voice message (robocall), you may be eligible for compensation under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Find out more at the Text Message Spam, Unwanted Cell Phone Calls TCPA Class Action Lawsuit Settlement Investigation.