UPS Class Action Lawsuit Says Notary Service Too Expensive

A UPS class action lawsuit alleging that the store’s $10 charge for notary services far exceeds the price allowed under state law, has been removed to federal court.

Lead plaintiff Kevin Richardson II claims in his class action lawsuit that he has utilized The UPS Store, run by J&V Logistics in his area, for notary services on several occasions – each time paying $10 for the service.

However, he says that Massachusetts law only permits a $1.25 charge for notary services.

Richardson initiated the UPS class action lawsuit in Massachusetts state court, but it was removed to federal court on Nov. 7.

UPS Stores provide packing and freight services, as well as postal and business communications. Each store also offers notary services. Notary services are often required to provide authentication of documents.

According to the UPS class action lawsuit, UPS “advertises notary services on their website, holding out notaries as their own service providers and states ‘our licensed professional notary public services are here to make life easier.’”

The UPS notary class action lawsuit notes that UPS provides two weeks of training in San Diego, along with in-store training, to store managers and franchisees in order to offer the service.

All UPS Stores in Massachusetts charge $10 for their notary services, alleges the UPS class action lawsuit.

According to the plaintiff, UPS systematically overcharges for notary services.

The UPS notary class action lawsuit alleges that the training manual provided by UPS to franchise owners indicates that the company “regularly requires or allows it franchisees to charge above the statutory limit for notary services.”

“The Plaintiffs have regularly been charges and paid eight times the statutory limit for notary services at [The UPS Store] franchisees because of [The UPS Store’s] price gouging and it control and the requirements it places on [The UPS Store] franchisees,” alleges the UPS class action lawsuit.

The UPS Store class action lawsuit seeks to represent a Class of consumers who have purchased notary services from a UPS Store in Massachusetts.

The plaintiff is seeking $25 in damages for himself and other Class Members for each alleged incident of overcharge by the UPS Store, along with a refund of the fees.

Richardson is also seeking a court order stopping the UPS Store from allegedly overcharging for notary services in Massachusetts.

In addition to removal, the UPS Store has submitted a motion to dismiss the class action lawsuit.

“This lawsuit is a misguided effort to create heretofore unrecognized causes of action by misreading and/or ignoring the plain language of a more than one-hundred-year-old statute,” contends UPS in its motion to dismiss the class action lawsuit.

UPS argues that the state law the class action lawsuit alleges the company violates by overcharging for notary services does not cover the services at issue.

The plaintiff and proposed Class are represented by Orestes Brown, Bailey Buchanan, Keith Sachs, and D. Scoot Dullea of Metaxas Brown Pidgeon LLP.

The UPS Notary Fee Class Action Lawsuit is Kevin Richardson II v. The UPS Store Inc., et al., Case No. 1:18-cv-12338-MPK, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.