Class action claims Papa John’s spam emails used false urgency to mislead customers

Papa John’s class action lawsuit overview:

• Who: Plaintiff Colby Hutton filed a class action lawsuit against Papa John’s USA Inc.
• Why: Hutton claims Papa John’s sends spam emails to consumers with subject lines that create a false sense of urgency.
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in Washington state court.

A new class action lawsuit alleges that Papa John’s bombards consumers with spam emails that contain subject lines that create a false sense of urgency.

Plaintiff Colby Hutton claims Papa John’s sends the spam emails in violation of the Washington Commercial Electronic Mail Act (CEMA) and the Consumer Protection Act (CPA).

Hutton argues the spam emails that Papa John’s sends to Washington consumers contain “false or misleading” subject lines that are intended to create a false sense of urgency to try to entice them to make a purchase.

“This false urgency wastes consumers’ time by enticing them to engage with Papa John’s marketing for fear of missing out and chokes consumers’ email inboxes with repeated false notifications that the time to act — i.e. purchase — is short,” the Papa John’s class action lawsuit says.

Hutton wants to represent a nationwide class of consumers who held an email address to which Papa John’s sent or caused to be sent any email listed in the Papa John’s class action complaint.

Class action: Papa John’s misrepresents when sales end to entice consumers

Hutton claims Papa John’s creates a false sense of urgency by misrepresenting when sales end and then arbitrarily extending them to entice consumers to make a purchase.

Hutton claims he received a number of spam emails from Papa John’s that contained subject lines such as “Time’s running out to get a FREE large 1-topping pizza,” “Last call for a FREE large 1-topping pizza” and “Offer extended: Get a FREE large 1-topping pizza.”

“Papa John’s engages in an email marketing strategy whereby it creates a false sense of urgency, misrepresents when sales end, and then arbitrarily extends those sales to further pull in consumers with subject headings that are just not true,” the Papa John’s class action lawsuit says.

Hutton claims Papa John’s is guilty of violating CEMA and the CPA and of unjust enrichment. He demands a jury trial and requests declaratory and injunctive relief and an award of actual or liquidated damages, treble damages and attorneys’ fees and costs.

Earlier this year, Papa John’s faced a class action lawsuit claiming it denied blind and visually impaired consumers equal access to its website in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Have you ever received spam emails from Papa John’s? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiff is represented by Walter Smith of Smith & Dietrich Law Offices PLLC; Lynn A. Toops, Natalie A. Lyons and Ian R. Bensberg of Cohen Malad LLP; J. Gerard Stranch IV and Michael C. Tackeff of Stranch Jennings & Garvey PLLC; and Samuel J. Strauss and Raina C. Borrelli of Strauss Borrelli LLP.

The Papa John’s spam email class action lawsuit is Hutton v. Papa John’s USA Inc., Case No. 2:25-cv-01922, in the Superior Court of the State of Washington, Snohomish County.

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