Los Angeles, CA: A class action lawsuit has been filed against Hooters of America alleging the restaurant chain violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). Filed by lead plaintiff Peyman Zandifaez, the lawsuit alleges that on June 14, Zandifaez received an unsolicited text message on his cell phone from Hooters and a second unsolicited text message on July 5.
"TheĀ SPAM text messages were form texts that were sent consumers on mass and just solely to the plaintiff, which is indicative of the use of an automatic telephone dialing system,"the complaint states. "[The] defendant used telephone number 368-32 to send this unsolicited SPAM text message to plaintiff' cellular telephone."
The lawsuit alleges that at no time did the plaintiff provide Hooters with his cellular phone number, through any medium, nor did he consent to receive such an unsolicited text message. Further, the plaintiff alleges that at no time did he sign up for nor use the defendant' services or products, nor has he ever had any form of business relationship with Hooters.
"Through the unsolicited SPAM text message, defendant contacted plaintiff on plaintiff' cellular telephone regarding an unsolicited service via an 'automatic telephone dialing system,'"the lawsuit states. The ATDS has the capacity to store or produce telephone numbers to be called, using a random or sequential number generator, according to the suit.
According to the lawsuit, Zandifaez is charged for incoming calls and text messages and the text message constituted a call that was not for emergency purposes. "Plaintiff did not provide defendant or its agent prior express consent to receive text messages, including unsolicited text messages, to her cellular telephone,"the complaint states.
Zandifaez is seeking $1,500 in statutory damages for each and every violation of the TCPA and $500 in statutory damages for the first violation of the TCPA. He is being represented by Abbas Kazerounian and Mona Amini of Kazerouni Law Group; Joshua B. Swigart of Hyde & Swigart; and Todd M. Friedman of the Law Offices of Todd M. Friedman.
The case was filed in the US District Court for the Central District of California case number: 8:14-cv-01187.
