Uber Seeks to Dismiss Text Spam Class Action Lawsuit

Is Text Spam Covered by the TCPA?

The TCPA is a federal law that prohibits companies from making phone calls using an automatic telephone dialing system, or robocalls. It also prohibits companies from sending unsolicited text messages to customers.

Plaintiff Maria Vergara states that Uber violated the TCPA by sending her two texts last June, one in July and six more in August. Uber claims that these texts were verification messages for new users and did not violate the TCPA.

Vergara claims that she never signed up to be an Uber user and therefore the messages constituted unwanted text spam.

Uber argues that such messages would never have been sent had someone not provided their cell phone number and signed up to receive them. The defendant states that the fact that she received the messages at all is proof she signed up.

“[Vergara] acknowledges that Uber’s possession of her phone number was the result of an individual submitting information through Uber’s ‘customer enrollment process,’ which triggered the verification messages,” Uber states.

Many companies send verification codes to new users, Uber notes, and it is an increasingly common practice for security reasons.

Vergara claims that she did not give prior consent to the unsolicited text messages and that they were sent with equipment that had the ability to store numbers and dial automatically without any human intervention.

Uber’s Motion Regarding Text Spam

The motion filed recently by Uber to toss out the proposed class action says that this is similar to a case in which a U.S. District judge granted social media giant, Facebook, their motion to dismiss a TCPA case. Facebook claimed that the plaintiffs did not prove text spam was sent by an automated dialing system.

Uber states that Vergara’s claim does not fall under the TCPA. Under the TCPA, a violation must require a certain form of technology that allows dialing of thousands of phone numbers in short amounts of time. They claim that Vergara cannot prove that Uber has such technology.

If she did receive the unsolicited text messages, Uber notes, it was probably because another user made a mistake and entered her number inadvertently.

Uber goes on to argue that as someone did actually sign up to receive the message, this constitutes human intervention.

This class action lawsuit is open to anyone who has received text spam or unsolicited text messages from Uber who did not provide their number to the company. A minimum of $500 in damages for each TCPA violation is sought.

The Uber Text Spam Lawsuit is Vergara v. Uber Technologies Inc., Case No. 1:15-cv-06942, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

UPDATE: On June 14, 2017, Uber and Vergara told the Court that they have agreed to settle the TCPA class action lawsuit. Terms of the settlement will remain confidential until the parties submit the draft settlement and motion for preliminary approval to the court, according to the parties’ joint notice.

UPDATE 2: On Aug. 11, 2017, Uber Technologies Inc. agreed to pay $20 million to settle a class action lawsuit over allegations it sent unsolicited text messages in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

UPDATE 3: October 2017, the Uber text message spam class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.

UPDATE 4: On Sept. 1, 2018, Top Class Actions viewers started receiving checks in the mail worth up to $127.24 from the Uber text message class action settlement. Congratulations to everyone who filed a claim and got PAID!