[author: Eric Troutman]
On April 21, 2025 Plaintiffs ANTHONY KAMEL, LINNEA MENIN,
JASMINE OTTE, JENNIFER SCHOFIELD sued Albertson Companies, Inc. claiming it had violated the TCPA by sending SMS messages to each of them after a STOP request.
Complaint here: Albertsons
By May 19, 2025– less than a month later– the case had settled for nearly $6MM ($5,950,000.00 to be precise.)
So what the heck happened?
Now I have no inside baseball here but I suspect there were a series of cases involving Albertsons and that it desired to settle its liability and went with this case as the vehicle to do so for.. whatever reason. I suspect, therefore, the case was filed with Albertson’s aware it was coming– and perhaps even encouraging it.
Again, I don’t know this, but I dont see how a case settles in under a month for early $6MM without some sort of pre-game planning.
Interestingly the class is quite narrow and includes only individuals who received marketing texts after a DNC request.
That’s right.
This is a DNC SMS class– generally among the weaker of claims given the availability of a good faith defense– and it is limited to individuals who received texts only after an opt out request.
As we have noted several times on TCPAWorld.com there is a new wave of these freeform opt out cases crashing our shores. Many times a plaintiff will simply set up a lawsuit by using phrases they know automatic systems can’t pick up.
“NO”, “EXIT”, AND “I DO NOT WISH TO BE CONTACTED”: TCPA Class Action SMS Lawsuits from “Keyword Avoiders” Pour In
You know how the Czar is always right? Here’s another example. A few weeks back I told you a new wave of TCPA class actions was coming involving litigators who opt out of SMS messages without using keywords such as STOP or QUIT: ITS HERE: The First of a Wave of New “Keyword Avoider” SMS … Continue reading
Perhaps that’s what Albertsons was thinking here.
Apparently there are 283,000 people in the class– a number that tells me something might have been wrong systematically, which lead to the settlement– which means each class member is going to get $21.00 a pop.
That’s actually a decent number (for Albertson’s) considering the definition here- again EVERYBODY in the class received multiple texts after an opt out. In other words they all have valid claims.
So the price tag isn’t terrible. In fact there is probably a risk the settlement may not be approved because the class price is so low.
See its one thing if the class is broad– i.e. everyone that received a text–and the price per class member is low because presumptively most class members lack valid claims. Here, however, the predicate of liability is mostly established– i.e. two or marketing texts after a stop request.
Presumably many class members re-consented, and those who were texted probably were texted due to a good faith error by Albertsons (we assume). Plus there is the whole “are texts even subject to the DNC anymore” debate. So there are some arguments here– but a 4% recovery on an “up to” $500.00 claim?
Don’t know.
Anyway we will keep an eye on this one.
Claim Deadline is Wednesday, September 10, 2025. Final approval Oct. 3, 2025. So this is all coming up.
Chat soon.
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