/>iHi TCPAWorld!
It looks like luxury fashion brand Michael Kors may be in some hot water.
A class action complaint has been filed against Michael Kors (USA), Inc. by plaintiff Victoria Soboleski in the Eastern District of Michigan. The suit alleges the company sent unsolicited marketing text messages to people whose numbers are on the National Do-Not-Call Registry. Soboleski v. Michael Kors (USA), Inc., 2:25-cv-11838-DPH-CI.
The TCPA restricts telephone solicitations to individuals who have registered their numbers on the National Do-Not-Call (“DNC”) Registry. Once a number is on the registry for 30 days, companies are generally prohibited from making “telephone solicitation” calls to it. A person who receives more than one call or text in a 12-month period in violation of this rule can sue.
“The term telephone solicitation means the initiation of a telephone call or message for the purpose of encouraging the purchase or rental of, or investment in, property, goods, or services, which is transmitted to any person, but such term does not include a call or message:
(i) To any person with that person’s prior express invitation or permission;
(ii) To any person with whom the caller has an established business relationship; or
(iii) By or on behalf of a tax-exempt nonprofit organization.”
Thus, by definition, a “telephone solicitation” under the TCPA does not include calls or messages made by or on behalf of a tax-exempt nonprofit organization, calls to a person with whom the caller has an established business relationship, or calls to a person who has given the caller their express prior permission to call.
Here, the plaintiff alleges that Michael Kors sent multiple marketing text messages to her personal cell phone number, even though the number had been registered on the National DNC Registry for over a month. She further alleges that she had no prior relationship with the company, never gave them permission to text her, and that the messages were to advertise/market Michael Kors business/services.
Based on those allegations, she is seeking to represent the following class:
All persons throughout the United States (1) who did not provide their telephone number to Michael Kors (USA), Inc., (2) to whom Michael Kors (USA), Inc. delivered, or caused to be delivered, more than one voice message or text message within a 12-month period, promoting Michael Kors (USA), Inc. goods or services, (3) where the person’s residential or cellular telephone number had been registered with the National Do Not Call Registry for at least thirty days before Michael Kors (USA), Inc. delivered, or caused to be delivered, at least two of the voice messages or text messages within the 12-month period, (4) within four years preceding the date of this complaint and through the date of class certification.
We will keep an eye on this one.
