Tampa Bay Rays Sued for Unsolicited Texting

By William Vogeler, Esq. on September 18, 2018 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

The Tampa Bay Rays are a popular baseball team, but not everybody is a fan.

Chad Fernandez, for example, is suing the team for sending him promotional text messages.

He apparently could have deleted or stopped them, but oh well. Seriously, what will Fernandez do when he gets an unsolicited text from the President of the United States?

Unsolicited Texts

In his baseball suit, Fernandez says the unsolicited texts violated the Telephone Consumer Privacy Act. He wants $500 for each text.

He complained the messages "wasted his time by requiring him to delete the messages." He incurred "harms such as loss of cell phone battery life and financial losses in requiring him to recharge his phone."

"We don't have any comment," a team spokesperson told Awful Announcing. The sports ezine said the Rays tried not to laugh about the complaint.

However, TCPA cases are no laughing matter for corporate counsel. They are a booming business, according to FindLaw's Casey Sullivan.

"Any company that makes customer phone calls, sends texts or faxes faxes could be open to liability under the TCPA," he wrote.

Opting-Out

The TCPA prohibits companies from sending unsolicited text messages to promote business unless the recipients consent. Even if they consent, contacts should have the ability to opt-out at any time.

There are some exceptions, such as text messages with emergency alerts. So Fernandez can expect a text message from the president.

But he should know you can't sue the president for unsolicited text messages and there's no crying in baseball.

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