New York, NY: A tentative $16.5 million settlement has been reached in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) class action lawsuit pending against Papa John'. The lawsuit, entitled Agne, et al. v. Papa John' International Inc., et al, Case No. 10-cv-01139, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, alleges Papa John' sent unwanted text messages to customers, which violates the TCPA.
Specifically, the lawsuit claims the Papa John' pizza chain sent over 500,000 text messages to its customers advertising pizza specials. The text messages were illegal, the lawsuit claims, because they were sent via automatic dialing systems, and without the customers' consent.
If approved, the settlement will resolve the class action, which was filed in 2010. Included in the terms is an $11 million fund to be divided among some 220,000 customers as cash payments: those customers were sent at least one unsolicited text message that marketed a Papa John' branded product, good or service through OnTime4U. Additionally, $2.86 million will be distributed as vouchers for a free Papa John' Pizza. Details on how to submit a claim as a class member have not yet been made public.
