Happy New Year TCPA World! Looking forward to 2023!  

Now that the holidays have passed, I have a new case to share with you but first, doesn’t Snow Globe Wonderland and Snowflake Kisses sound like a peaceful getaway looking out of a cabin window sitting by the fireplace enjoying the beauty of nature? No, just me. Well, I think it sounds beautiful unless you are driving in morning rush hour trying to get to work or if you are Yankee Candle?  

Someone sued Yankee Candle last November. Yup, that’s right.  

Plaintiff, Tracie Holman brought a class action against The Yankee Candle Company, Inc. (“Yankee”) in the Circuit Court for the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit in and for Hillsborough County, Florida (“state court”). Holman alleges that Yankee engaged in telephonic sales calls to consumers without having secured prior express written consent in violation of the Florida Telephone Solicitation Act (“FTSA”).  

But before the year ended, Yankee removed the case to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida (“federal court”) because federal court has original subject matter jurisdiction over Plaintiff’s claims and supplemental jurisdiction over the putative class members because this case involves claims between parties of diverse citizenship and the amount in controversy for Plaintiff’s individual claims exceeds $75,000.  

Here’s the summary: 

Holman received some text messages that she claims she didn’t authorize. How many text messages did she receive? Per Plaintiff’s counsel, “that number is quite a lot.” Yankee claims that Holman signed up for and consented to a subscription to receive certain promotional text messages.

Here’s Exhibit A:

Sounds simple? It’s not. So, we will keep you posted on this one. Troutman Firm is here at your service! 

Interesting to see if this wonderland will melt. Ha! .  

Til next time, Countess!