Anne Bucher  |  December 8, 2016

Category: Consumer News

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neiman-marcus-forever-21Forever 21 Inc. and Neiman Marcus Group LLC have been slammed with class action lawsuits accusing them of violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) by sending unsolicited text messages.

The two separate TCPA class action lawsuits were filed this week in New York federal court by plaintiff Li Huang. She says she received unwanted marketing text messages from the retailers even though she never consented to the text messages.

Huang alleges the texts were sent using an automated telephone dialing system in violation of the TCPA.

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act is a federal law designed to combat annoying telemarketing practices. It prohibits companies from using an automatic telephone dialing system to contact consumers without their prior express consent. The TCPA applies to phone calls, text messages and faxes.

A company that violates the TCPA may be liable for damages ranging from $500 to $1,500 per violation.

According to the TCPA class action lawsuits, Huang received several text messages from Neiman Marcus and Forever 21 on WeChat, an app that offers free calls and text messages when the phone is connected to Wi-Fi. WeChat also uses a cellular connection when Wi-Fi is not available, and cellular data usage is charged by the network provider.

The WeChat texting app is identifiable through the user’s telephone number. The app becomes embedded in the mobile phone and gets access to the phone’s address book and storage. The TCPA class action lawsuits assert that the app is not internet-based because it can use a cellular connection when Wi-Fi is not available.

Huang argues that the legislative history of the TCPA shows that Congress intended to grant broad authority to enforce the protections against unwanted robocalls and keep up with new technologies. Therefore, unwanted text messages sent to WeChat apps should be covered by the TCPA, Huang says.

Huang maintains that she never authorized Forever 21 or Neiman Marcus to send marketing text messages to her cell phone.

By filing the TCPA class action lawsuits, Huang seeks to represent a Class of consumers who received unsolicited WeChat or conventional text messages on their cell phones from Forever 21 or Neiman Marcus in the last four years. She estimates that thousands of consumers may have received unsolicited text messages from these retailers in violation of the TCPA.

Huang is represented by C.K. Lee and Anne Seelig of Lee Litigation Group PLLC.

The Forever 21 TCPA Class Action Lawsuit is Li Huang v. Forever 21 Inc., Case No. 1:16-cv-06712, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

The Neiman Marcus TCPA Class Action Lawsuit is Li Huang v. The Neiman Marcus Group LLC, Case No. 1:16-cv-06763, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

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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.

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4 thoughts onNeiman Marcus, Forever 21 Hit With Text Spam Class Action Lawsuits

  1. barry says:

    any updates

  2. Gwendolyn Lee says:

    This happened to me lots of time

  3. Tara says:

    This happened to me.

  4. Monica Zackery says:

    Please include me.

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