Fax Class Action
Honestly, I'm writing from--mostly--ignorance here. I'm writing from ignorance because the facts don't seem to justify the research necessary to cure the ignorance.
I just got a fax form telling me that I was a class member in a class action. The facts of the class action, as explained in the notice, were that on December 4, 2008, the defendant violated the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. Sec. 227 by faxing my firm an advertisement without our prior express invitation or permission to do so and without the required opt-out notice. I can make a claim for up to $500.00 for my damages arising out of the fax. All I have to do is fill out a simple claim form.
Honestly, I'm writing from--mostly--ignorance here. I'm writing from ignorance because the facts don't seem to justify the research necessary to cure the ignorance.
I just got a fax form telling me that I was a class member in a class action. The facts of the class action, as explained in the notice, were that on December 4, 2008, the defendant violated the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. Sec. 227 by faxing my firm an advertisement without our prior express invitation or permission to do so and without the required opt-out notice. I can make a claim for up to $500.00 for my damages arising out of the fax. All I have to do is fill out a simple claim form.
Now the irony is that an unwanted fax of December 4, 2008 has led to an unwanted fax of May 2, 2013 which I have to deal with somehow. I probably should deal with it in the manner we originally dealt with the first unwanted fax. We have a fully-functional trash can.
Why don't you just fill in the simple form and get your "up to" $500? Well, it's not that simple. I have to certify that the fax belonged to our business. Well, the fax actually belonged to the predecessor of our business. I'd have to sign on behalf of a partnership that no longer exists. Furthermore, if we were to actually get some recovery, we'd have to find the former partner and pay him a third of it. Although we negotiated a detailed agreement when the former partner left, we simply forgot to account for the proceeds of any class actions about junk faxes we might receive.
Now really, in spite of the frustration, class actions aren't that bad. I am frequently annoyed by junk faxes, but they are usually sent out by fly-by-night ripoff organizations that would disappear before we could do anything about it. Here, the defendant is a major non-turnip corporation. Serves them right, actually.
The class action is a great vehicle for cases in which a defendant hurts many people just a little bit. My annoyance from receiving a junk fax is probably worth less than any filing fee, if I were to pursue my claim myself. But the class action does discourage the bad guys. There are apparently millions of potential members of the class. So it was worth it to the lawyers to pursue the claim. The named plaintiff has asked for an incentive payment (payment for the pain in the neck of serving as a plaintiff, submitting to discovery, and having to put up with having his entire life investigated by defense lawyers looking for a character assassination defense. Hell, let's face it, he's worked as a "class representative" for almost
But it's still funny that I received a fax about having received an unwanted fax almost five years ago.
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