Abercrombie, Hollister Reach $10M Settlement in TCPA Class Action

Abercrombie and Fitch, as well as several related companies have reached a tentative $10 million class action settlement to resolve a TCPA class action lawsuit alleging the popular clothing retailers made harassing telemarketing calls to consumers.

Plaintiffs in the proposed TCPA class action lawsuit allege that Abercrombie and Fitch and other named clothing retailers violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, a law designed to strictly limit telemarketing. The TCPA allows individuals to file lawsuits against those who break the law as a way to discourage infractions.

The Abercrombie TCPA class action lawsuit claims that as many as 3,738,465 class members may have been on the receiving end of the alleged TCPA violations. The filing alleges that Abercrombie and Fitch broke TCPA regulations when it sent unsolicited text messages out to customers without their permission. The proposed TCPA class action lawsuit holds that this makes Abercrombie and Fitch liable under the TCPA.

In the filing, the plaintiffs seek to establish a $10 million settlement fund for plaintiffs to draw from, based on a claim form. Assuming the TCPA lawsuit settlement is approved, anyone who received unwanted text messages from Abercrombie and Fitch or several other related stores including Hollister Company and Gilly Hicks from August 25, 2010 through the date that the order is approved would be eligible for compensation.

The filing also includes provisions to help organize the TCPA settlement fund and help distribute the funds to potential plaintiffs.

What is the TCPA?

The TCPA is a law designed to discourage harassing telemarketing practices. The law was drafted in the early nineties, when growing concerns about new telemarketing tech began to arise.

At this point, autodialers allowed telemarketing firms to make robocalls and send mass faxes cheaply. SMS text message systems were on the horizon, and consumers were concerned that advertisers could increasingly harass them in their own homes.

In response to these concerns, congress passed the Telephone Consumer Protection Act or TCPA to regulate telemarketing. The TCPA also created the national “Do Not Call” list, among other things. Subsequent amendments and court cases expanded the provisions of the TCPA to include cellular phones and text messages.

Among the provisions, it made it illegal to send advertising text messages without permission from the receiver. This is the provision of the TCPA that Abercrombie and Fitch et al. allegedly broke by sending unsolicited advertisements by text messages.

The TCPA is designed to be partially enforced through text message spam laws like this potential TCPA class action lawsuit. Under the TCPA, consumers may seek a statutory damage, that is damages allowed by the law in even in the absence of actual harms, though the TCPA allows for the actual damages, like the cost of text messages and other fees incurred from the unwanted text messages.

The Abercrombie/Hollister TCPA class action lawsuit is Anamaria Chimeno-Buzzi and Lakedrick Reed v. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. and Hollister Co., Case No. 14-cv-23120, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Miami Division.

UPDATE: Class Members have until May 16, 2016 to file a claim to benefit from this TCPA class action settlement. 

UPDATE 2: On Aug. 29, 2016, Top Class Actions viewers who filed a claim for the Abercrombie TCPA class action settlement started receiving checks in the mail worth as much as $40.09! Congratulations to all our readers who submitted a claim and got PAID!

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.

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