in Newswire Published on August 10, 2020

Class Action Claims AT&T Sent Automated COVID-19 Info Texts Despite Opt-Outs

Ulery v. AT&T Mobility Services, LLC

Filed: August 7, 2020 ◆§ 1:20-cv-02354

A proposed class action claims AT&T Mobility Services sent automated texts to consumers’ cell phones even after they revoked their consent to receive the messages.

Defendant(s)

AT&T Mobility LLC

Law(s)

Telephone Consumer Protection Act

State(s)

Colorado

Categories

COVID-19

A proposed class action claims AT&T Mobility Services, LLC has continued to send automated texts to consumers’ cell phones even after they revoked their consent to receive the messages.

The 17-page lawsuit claims the defendant sent automated, informational text messages to the plaintiff, a Colorado consumer who worked as a customer service rep for AT&T between April and June 2020, weeks after he stopped working for the company. Per the suit, the texts received by the plaintiff contained the following message related to coronavirus symptoms:

“ATT Msg: Before you come into work today, ask yourself if you are experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms (such as a fever, chills, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, etc.) or have been exposed to anyone with COVID-19 within the last 14 days.

If so, DO NOT report to your work location and contact your supervisor or the appropriate attendance number for your location. If you think you may have been exposed to COVID-19, reach out to your health provider immediately.

Text STOP to opt out”

Although the plaintiff replied “STOP” on July 23 to opt out of the messages, AT&T sent the man “the exact same automated text message” every day at 6:00 a.m. between July 24 and August 7, according to the lawsuit. The plaintiff says he attempted to opt out for a second time on July 29 yet continued to receive the messages, which the case claims were sent using automated dialing technology.

“Upon information and belief, Defendant used a combination of hardware and software systems which have the capacity to generate or store random or sequential numbers or to dial sequentially or randomly in an automated fashion without human intervention,” the complaint reads, adding that the use of such technology to send non-emergency messages without the recipient’s express consent is a violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

“Plaintiff did not want to receive these text messages and followed Defendant’s opt-out directions after receiving these unwanted text messages, but Defendant nevertheless continued to send the text messages to Plaintiff,” the suit says, describing the plaintiff as “understandably aggravated” at having received “unwanted messages at 6:00 a.m. every single day (including weekends).”

The plaintiff looks to represent anyone in the U.S. who, between July 23, 2020 and the date the class is certified, sent a “STOP” message to unsubscribe from AT&T’s texts and, without re-subscribing, were subsequently sent informational text messages from the defendant to their cell phone contrary to their instructions.

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