Class action plaintiff says the calls never slowed down, despite direct requests
Unchecked!
Grubhub is an ambitious company. Founded in 2004, it had gobbled up its main competitor, Seamless, by 2013; it went public, and set about a string of acquisitions in the online delivery space that consumed an additional eight competitors by 2018. This is a company that's very sure of the moves it makes.
Perhaps too sure?
A recent Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) class action filed by Georgia consumer Donna Marshall says that despite her requests to the contrary, Grubhub continued to pester her with "dozens – or possibly even hundreds" of calls.
The topics of the calls, which were logged on her voice mail, ranged from requests for order confirmation to requests for her holiday hours over Memorial Day.
The Takeaway
Marshall claims that she and her fellow classmates never requested the calls in the first place. She claims she even called Grubhub on two occasions and spoke with company representatives, at least one of whom assured her the calls would stop. She says they never did.
Marshall is suing Grubhub in the United States District Court in the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, for violations of the TCPA. She's seeking damages and injunctive relief with an interesting twist: a request for "Grubhub to hire a Court-approved, independent auditing company to (a) investigate all allegations of TCPA violations, and (b) audit no less than 10% of its outbound calls to ensure that Grubhub had consent and that the consumer had not previously asked that calls stop, and (c) report the results of the above investigations to the Court and Plaintiff's counsel on a quarterly basis."
This is one of several TCPA cases against Grubhub, including one that settled (subscription required) for $8 million in 2017. This case and the predecessor cases against Grubhub showcase the importance of companies to ensure they are TCPA compliant when initiating these phone calls and text messages to consumers, lest they be subject to heavy penalties and fines under the TCPA. Ensuring compliance with the TCPA and obtaining the proper consent prior to initiating these communications will continue to be of paramount importance as companies continue marketing to consumers using innovative and reachable methods, such as automated calls.
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