On June 17, 2024, a judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted final approval of the class settlement reached by the parties in Lateano v. Chicago Cubs Baseball Cub, LLC. In his Telephone Consumer Protection Act ("TCPA") lawsuit, Plaintiff alleged that he continued to receive promotional text messages from the Chicago Cubs despite opting out of the receipt of future marketing communications. This was a potential violation of the TCPA, as the law requires that businesses honor consumers' Do Not Call ("DNC") requests. As our readers are aware, the TCPA is a federal statute that restricts certain types of telemarketing communications to protect consumer privacy. Every day, numerous TCPA lawsuits are filed across the country. As detailed below, Lateano is a stern reminder that defendants in TCPA class action lawsuits face significant financial exposure.
The Alleged Facts in Lateano
Plaintiff filed his TCPA lawsuit against the Chicago Cubs for conduct that allegedly occurred in July of 2022. Plaintiff states that he received several text messages from Defendant promoting the sale of baseball tickets. Plaintiff responded to one of these messages with "Stop." Despite Plaintiff's attempt to opt out, he received further promotional text messages from the Cubs on at least three occasions. Plaintiff alleged that the Chicago Cubs failed to institute procedures to honor do-not-call requests, which is a TCPA law violation.
Plaintiff brought his TCPA lawsuit on behalf of a proposed class of:
All persons in the United States (1) subscribing to a residential telephone number (2) to which Defendant sent at least two text messages within a 12 month period (3) promoting its goods for sale (4) at least 30 days after receipt of a "stop" reply (5) within four years of the date of the Complaint.
As our readers are aware, the statutory minimum for a violation of the TCPA is $500. If a court of law deems the violation to be knowing or willful, it may award trebled statutory damages of $1,500.
The Resolution of the Lateano TPCA Lawsuit
Typically, after the exchange of relevant information during the discovery process, plaintiffs will seek court approval of the proposed TCPA class. At this point, defendants will have a realistic idea as to their potential exposure in a TCPA class action lawsuit.
The Cubs decided not to prolong the litigation process and agreed to resolve Plaintiff's claims during mediation. In doing so, Defendant did not admit to any wrongdoing, but agreed to pay $1.225 million to resolve the TCPA law claims. Plaintiff's counsel estimated that each class member would receive about $300, on average, although the actual amount would vary depending on how many texts the class member received from the Cubs. All individuals who received at least two commercial text messages from the Chicago Cubs within a 12-month period at least 30 days after receipt of a "stop" reply (since May 2, 2019) are eligible.
Hire Experienced Attorneys to Defend TCPA Lawsuits
Many TCPA complaints are filed as putative class actions. $1.225 million is an enormous sum. However, the math works out to cover "only" 2,450 class members. Bear in mind that it is common for putative classes to be comprised of tens of thousands of individuals, making the defense of a TCPA class action a potentially "bet the business" proposition.
Given the foregoing, businesses should hire experienced TCPA attorneys that stay up to date with ever-evolving case law and regulatory changes. Seasoned TCPA attorneys can help to: 1) ensure telemarketing law compliance and; 2) explore all avenues to a successful TCPA litigation defense.
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