Los Angeles Lakers Reach Text Spam Class Action Settlement

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

The Los Angeles Lakers have announced they’ve reached a class action settlement with fans who claim the basketball organization violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by spamming them with unwanted text messages.

Lakers season ticket holder David Emanuel filed the TCPA class action lawsuit in late 2012, claiming he responded to an advertisement during an October 2012 game to text a personal message to a specific number to see the message display on the big screen. Emanuel claims that he immediately received an unsolicited text back from the Lakers encouraging him to send more texts. When Emanuel replied “STOP,” he received yet another unsolicited text confirming his cancellation.

Emanuel’s TCPA class action lawsuit was seeking the standard intentional TCPA violation fee of $1,500 per improper text sent to himself and other people who received unwanted text messages from the Lakers. The lawsuit has drawn the attention from consumers and social media giants such as Twitter Inc. and Path Inc. Both of these companies urged the court to uphold a lower court’s dismissal of the class action lawsuit because they are concerned that plaintiffs’ attorneys may be encouraged to use the TCPA to procure money from corporations.

The companies gave their opinion on Nov. 22, 2013, stating that they had experienced their own TCPA damage by plaintiffs who were seeking “windfall damages and coercive settlements” as a result of text-related components of their services. The companies also pointed out that in the prior year, more than 1,200 lawsuits were filed in the United States with most of the plaintiffs complaining of issues that were not meant to be reported to the TCPA.

Details of the Lakers text spam class action settlement were not immediately available.

Overview of TCPA Violations

The TCPA amended the original Communications Act of 1934. The Act was first passed by the U.S. Congress in 1991 and signed into law by President George H. W. Bush. Under the TCPA, companies are prohibited from using automated dialing systems, using artificial or prerecorded voice messages, sending SMS text messages, and using fax machines to send unsolicited messages to consumers. Under the TCPA, corporate callers must provide their name, contact information, and the company they work for.

If companies are found to be in violation of the TCPA, the statutory fees can range from $500 to $1,500. A company found to have unwillingly violated the TCPA will be fined $500 per violation, but the fees will rise if the company is found to be in willful violation of the law.

The Lakers argued that the text messages the plaintiff received were merely responses to the messages he had sent. However, due to the nature of the language of each text, there is evidence that an automated message system sent the numbers to his phone, once his cellphone number was registered. The team argues that even if this were the case, this does not violate the TCPA because the law does not subject text messages to the same standards as standard phones. Additionally, the Lakers point out that the accusation of an automated message system is a general prerequisite for a TCPA claim, and the records in the case indicate no such system was used to send the text to Emanuel.

Emanuel argued that he did not give his consent for a reply to his text message, and that the text of the TCPA and the intent of Congress clearly states that the TCPA should apply to any phone communication.

The LA Lakers Text Spam Class Action Lawsuit is David M. Emanuel v. The Los Angeles Lakers Inc., Case No. 13-55678, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Help for Text Spam, Cell Phone Call TCPA Victims

If you received an unsolicited text message or cell phone call, you may be able to take legal action against the company(ies) responsible. Consumer class action settlements for TCPA violations typically pay out $100 to several hundred dollars to Class Members. See if you qualify to participate in a class action lawsuit by filling out the short form at the TCPA Class Action Lawsuit Investigation.