Plaintiffs Get Second Chance in LinkedIn Privacy Class Action Lawsuit

A class action lawsuit accusing LinkedIn of violating users’ privacy by hacking into their third-party email accounts escaped a motion by the company to dismiss the case, but plaintiffs will have to amend claims that LinkedIn violated federal wiretapping laws if they want to pursue them, a federal judge ruled June 12.

Lead plaintiff Paul Perkins alleges in the LinkedIn privacy class action lawsuit, filed in September 2013, that the social network accessed users’ private email address and then sent endorsement emails to contacts advertising LinkedIn services.

LinkedIn “makes numerous deceptive and misleading statements” about how it will use its access to users’ email address book, the “LinkedIn class action lawsuit asy. “LinkedIn expressly states that they will not email any recipients without their permission. … Never does LinkedIn state that they will be sending multiple emails on a user’s behalf.” As a result, plaintiffs were seeking damages on violations of the Secure Communications Act, the Wiretap Act and California’s common law right to publicity.

In her June 12 Order, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh wrote that the consumers did consent to having their email address book used by the social network site by way of clearly marked disclaimers and requests. However, she notes that “Nothing in LinkedIn’s disclosures alerts users to the possibility that their contacts will receive not just one invitation, but three. In fact, by stating a mere three screens before the disclosure regarding the first invitation that ‘We will not . . . email anyone without your permission,’ LinkedIn may have actively led users astray.”

The plaintiffs may still be able to bring up the email harvesting and user privacy concerns in their forthcoming second amended complaint. Oddly for some jurists, none of the claims were dismissed with prejudice and the user privacy concerns relating to the common law right to privacy will hold until a motion to certify the Class.

Plaintiffs will have 30 days to file an amended complaint and retry their dismissed claims.

The plaintiffs are represented by class action attorneys Larry C. Russ, Dorian S. Berger and Daniel P Hipskind of Russ August & Kabat.

The LinkedIn Privacy Class Action Lawsuit is Paul Perkins, et al. v. LinkedIn Corp., Case No. 13-cv-04303, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: On June 11, 2015, LinkedIn informed a California federal judge that it had agreed to pay $13 million to settle the email harvesting class action lawsuit.

UPDATE 2: Details on how to file a claim for the LinkedIn Add Connections class action settlement are up! See them here.

UPDATE 4/20/16: The LinkedIn Add Connections Class Action Settlement is currently 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.  Keep checking back and let us know when you receive a check in the comments section below or on our  Facebook page.

UPDATE 4: On Oct. 17, 2016, Top Class Actions readers who submitted valid claims for the LinkedIn add connections class action settlement started receiving checks worth as much as $20.43! Congratulations to all our viewers who got PAID!