Subway Owner-Operators Used Autodialer to Send Illegal Marketing Texts, Class Action Claims

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A proposed class action lawsuit claims the three companies that collectively own, operate and control the Subway brand of sandwich restaurants have sent illegal telemarketing text messages to consumers in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).

Filed against Doctor’s Associates LLC, Franchise World Headquarters, LLC and Subway Franchisee Advertising Fund Trust, Ltd., the complaint claims the lead plaintiff received several mass-marketing texts advertising Subway’s products and services over the last four years. One such text was sent on January 15, 2020 from a short code operated by the defendants, the suit says, and advertised a special three-for-$18 deal on Subway’s footlong sandwiches. The plaintiff contends that this and other texts she received from Subway were unsolicited and sent using automated dialing technology.

The lawsuit claims the plaintiff never consented to receive telemarketing messages from the defendants, who allegedly sent out similar marketing texts en masse using the same short code stated in the complaint. The short code in question was allegedly owned or operated by Mobivity Holdings Corp., a mass marketing platform developer that the case says works with restaurants like Sonic, Chick-Fil-A and Baskin-Robbins to “conduct national and localized, data-driven marketing campaigns” via text.  

The suit states that the TCPA was enacted by Congress in 1991 in response to a “national outcry over the volume of robocalls being received by American consumers.” Under the statute, companies are required to obtain the express written consent of consumers before sending out autodialed telemarketing calls or text messages, the lawsuit explains.

The suit seeks to represent all persons in the United States who received at least one telemarketing text sent by or on behalf of the defendants from the same short code used to contact the plaintiff without their express written consent within the last four years.