Papa John's Sued for Sending Spam

Papa John’s is hoping a judge doesn’t blame them for 500,000 illegal text messages sent in 2010. If so, Papa John’s would at least pay $250 million to plaintiffs. “Papa John’s faces $250 million spam lawsuit” by Olivia Smith of CNNMoney.com reports customers claim they were sent “spam texts [offering] deals for pizza, and some customers complained they were getting 15 or 16 texts in a row…” The article reports the spam was actually sent but the issue is whether Papa John’s is responsible.

The texts were sent via “a mass text messaging service called OnTime4U, which is also a defendant…” In late 2010, Papa John’s ended their affiliation with OnTime4U and then “informed its corporate stores and franchisees that sending unsolicited messages to cellphones ‘is most likely illegal’”. The plaintiffs are “seeking $500 per text but could be awarded up to $1500 for each message.”

According to the article, Papa John’s defense is since the texts were sent through third parties the “corporate text messaging program is not subject to the lawsuit”. It’s interesting the company would claim the “program is not subject to a lawsuit.” As far as most know, spam is illegal whether sent by an overall company or it’s franchisees.