Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ADVERTISING—NDCal: Settlement of Lucky Brand Jeans Text Message Advertising Class Action Preliminarily Approved, (Nov 28, 2012)
Organizations Mentioned:Lucky Brand Dungarees, Inc.
By Jody Coultas, J.D.
The federal district court in San Francisco has preliminarily approved a settlement agreement of a class action of cell phones users who were sent text messages without prior express consent between August 24, 2008 and September 15, 2008 as part of an advertising campaign by Lucky Brand Dungarees allegedly in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (Robles v. Lucky Brand Dungarees, Inc., November 26, 2012, Chesney, M.).
The court found that the settlement agreement was fundamentally fair, adequate, and reasonable, and satisfied the requirements of Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 23. The class of 216,711 cell phone users was so numerous that joinder of all members was impracticable. Questions of law and fact common to members of the class included whether the equipment used to send the text messages fell within the statutory definition of an automatic telephone dialing system and whether Lucky Brand properly obtained prior express consent. The claims of the representatives were typical of the claims and fairly and adequately protected the interests of the class. Common questions of law or fact predominated over questions affecting individual members and a class action was a superior method for adjudicating the claims.
Notice of the settlement will be posted on the website www.BackToSchoolTextSettlement.net. Members of the Settlement Class who wish to receive benefits under the agreement must complete and submit a claim form. Class members may receive up to $100 from the settlement.
The case is No. 10-cv-04846 MMC.
Sean Patrick Reis (Edelson McGuire, LLP) for Juvenal Robles. P. Craig Cardon (Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP) for Lucky Brand Dungarees, Inc.
Cases: Advertising ConsumerProtection Privacy CaliforniaNews