Christina Spicer  |  August 2, 2019

Category: Legal News

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CVS Pharmacist Gives Flu ShotThe plaintiffs in the CVS TCPA class action lawsuit alleging the pharmacy peppered them and others with unwanted calls for their flu shots have won a $15 million settlement.

Lead plaintiffs, Illinois residents Carl Lowe and Kearby Kaiser, alleged in their 2014 class action lawsuit that CVS Pharmacy violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) when it sent reminder calls to consumers about their flu shots. The plaintiffs contended that the reminder calls were unwanted and that CVS used an automatic dialing system – both alleged violations of the TCPA.

TCPA is a federal law that was enacted to stem the tide of telemarketing leeching its way into consumers’ lives. In addition to requiring prior express consent for marketing calls, the law limits the use of automatic dialing systems and robocalls.

The TCPA also set up the National Do-Not-Call Registry as a way for consumers to partially shield themselves from unwanted telemarketing behavior. The Act assesses steep fines for violations, between $500 and $1,500 per unwanted call.

The complaint also alleged that CVS violated Illinois consumer protection laws.

The CVS TCPA class action lawsuit saw of over five years of litigation. The plaintiffs alleged that they and other customers had been contacted by CVS without permission. During the calls, according to the complaint, a prerecorded message reminding them of their flu shot and advertising CVS Pharmacy’s services was played.

While neither the plaintiffs nor CVS Pharmacy admits a loss, the plaintiffs concede that the proposed class action settlement agreement will help avoid expensive and time consuming litigation.

“Without the settlement, the class ran the very real risk of recovering nothing,” noted the plaintiffs in their motion to approve the CVS TCPA class action settlement. “Realistically, it could be more than a year before the case would proceed to trial, and the appeals process may further delay any judgment in favor of class members. The settlement, instead, avoids these risks and provides immediate and certain relief.”

Under the term of the settlement, Class Members can expect to receive approximately $35 and most will receive an automatic distribution of funds.

Class Members include Illinois residents who received a call on their cell phone from CVS Pharmacy as a part of their 2013 flu shot reminder campaign. The call would have been prerecorded and offered a coupon.

According to the CVS TCPA class action settlement, there are records of over 200,000 Class Members whose cell phones’ were called with the prerecorded flu shot message.

“This settlement — in providing for automatic distribution of checks in most instances — has the added benefit of ensuring greater direct relief to settlement class members than many other TCPA class settlements that rely entirely on a claims process,” noted the motion for approval of the settlement.

The lead plaintiffs and Class Members are represented by Alexander H. Burke and Daniel J. Marovitch of Burke Law Offices LLC, Edward A. Broderick of Broderick Law PC, Matthew McCue of the Law Office of Matthew P. McCue, and Brian K. Murphy of Murray Murphy Moul Basil LLP.

The CVS TCPA Class Action Lawsuit is Lowe, et al. v. CVS Pharmacy Inc., et al., Case No. 1:14-cv-03687, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

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30 thoughts onCVS Class Action Over Flu Shot Calls Settles For $15M

  1. Mary Hewitt says:

    I’m always getting calls from them on getting my flu shots. Please add me

  2. Patrick Thornton says:

    Received a check
    How do tell if it’s legit

  3. Theodore Bowles says:

    add me

  4. Theodore Bowles says:

    Please add me

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