Uber Agrees to $20 Million Settlement in Text Message Class Action Lawsuit

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Summary: Uber has settled a lawsuit that claimed they texted people promotions without their consent.

Uber has reached another class-action settlement, this time for sending out annoying text messages. The ride-share company is expected to pay $20 million to settle the case, which accused them of violating federal law. As part of the terms, Uber has agreed to alter its texting practices but has denied wrongdoing.

  

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According to The Chicago Tribune, Illinois local Maria Vergara sued Uber on August 7, 2015, after she said Uber sent her at least eight unsolicited text messages to get her to register for the service. She said that she had never used Uber or tried to download the app and that they had sent her different confirmation numbers in each text.

Vergara filed her lawsuit in Cook County’s federal court, and on January 23, an Illinois District Court judge will review the settlement terms for approval. If okayed, the attorneys in this case are expected to receive $6.7 million plus costs and expenses, and the six plaintiffs should get about $10,000.

According to TopClassActions, Myles McGuire, Evan M. Meyers and Paul T. Geske of McGuire Law PC and Hassan A. Zavareei, Andrea R. Gold and Andrew J. Silver of Tycko & Zavareei LLP represented the plaintiffs.

The class-action lawsuit alleged that Uber violated the Telephone Consumer Protect Act, which forbids sending automated text messages to people without their permission. The act says that these messages cause “aggravation and invasion of privacy.”

In Vergara’s lawsuit, she said that Uber has inaccurate phone numbers and that the multi-billion dollar company routinely sends unsolicited text messages to people who never gave consent to be contacted. She said that this practice costs cell phone users money because phone companies charge for spam.

The other plaintiffs in the case are Sandeep Pal, Jennifer Reilly, Justin Bartolet, James Lathrop and Jonathan Grindel. Paul Geske of McGuire Law said that his clients were “incredibly pleased” with the settlement. The amount received by the plaintiffs will be dependent on how many other people join the class-action.

Anyone who has received unsolicited texts from Uber between December 31, 2010 and August 17, 2017 are eligible to join the class-action if they file a claim. For more information, visit www.UberTCPASettlement.com or call 800-330-1683.

The mega-successful transportation company is a frequent target of lawsuits–with cases ranging from sexual harassment to antitrust violations. This summer, Uber’s board forced the resignation of its controversial founder, Travis Kalanick; and Kalanick is now embroiled in a bitter fight over his remaining power with one of the company’s investors. In August, Dara Khosrowshahi took over as the CEO, and in September Uber’s chief legal officer Salle Yoo announced that she would be leaving the company.

Yoo had been with Uber for almost five years and had been pivotal in the company’s fight with the government over regulatory issues, including federal probes into potential foreign bribes and the use of software to thwart law enforcement stings.

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