A spam text is nothing new, but did you know that if you receive one of these unsolicited messages you have protection and the right to monetary damages under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)? The TCPA provides protection against text messages sent to your mobile phone through the use of an auto-dialer when made without prior written consent.\u00a0 You do not even need to sign up for the Do-Not-Call list to be entitled to these protections. The TCPA provides monetary damages from $500.00 to $1,500.00 per each individual text message received.<\/p>\n
Recently, a class action lawsuit was filed by Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP and Terrell Marshall Law Group PLLC against New York Sports Club (\u201cNY Sports Club\u201d) for allegedly violating the TCPA. The fitness facilities, which operate throughout New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia, claim to have \u201cthe largest gym network in the Northeast.\u201d The lawsuit asserts TCPA violations on behalf of the Plaintiff and a nationwide class of customers who received text messages on their cell phones from NY Sports Club.<\/p>\n
NY Sports Club advertises their gyms through bulk SMS messaging, with software provided by CallFire, Inc., a powerful SMS text messaging platform that sends out promotions, discounts, updates or notifications \u2013 reaching thousands instantly. In this case, the plaintiff had never had a gym membership with NY Sports and did not sign up to receive Spam Texts from them. Nonetheless, on April 17, 2018, they received a Spam Text advertisement on their cellular telephone from, or on behalf of, NY Sports Club.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit argues that the plaintiff\u2019s privacy was violated upon receiving Spam Text from, or on behalf of, NY Sports Club, which was annoying, harassing, and constitutes a nuisance. The company has sent a significant number of Spam Texts to persons on their cellular telephones in New York and throughout the entire United States.<\/p>\n