BOTTOMS UP: Kimberly Bottoms Hits Pay Dirt With $12.5MM Settlement Against Block, Inc. For “Invite a Friend” Messages

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Another day, another massive TCPA settlement. Although this one is actually a CEMA settlement– Washington’s MASSIVELY IMPORTANT mini-TCPA.

Block, Inc. just agreed to pay up to $12.5MM to settle CEMA claims up in Washington state.

The settlement arises from claims related to Block’s CashApp “refer a friend” program.

The program offered a bounty to users of the app if they referred a friend– i.e. get $5.00 when you refer a friend. Stuff like that.

One little problem– while this might fly under restrictive TCPA rules, the Washington CEMA applies to companies that “assist” in transmission of illegal messages.

As a result of CEMA’s broader requirements, companies operating refer-a-friend style SMS programs need to be very cautious in Washington state.

Of course Block hired #biglaw who took hundreds of thousands of dollars (or more) off of Block and then guided it into a massive settlement.

Just unreal how many times we have seen this movie before. Same thing over and over. #Biglaw comes into a case. Screws it up. Settle for huge dollars.

Hire #biglaw. Expect a #bigloss (and an even bigger settlement.)

Anyhoo, this settlement covers 1,975,187 unique phone numbers with Washington area codes that Block users sent messages to (yikes)

The attorneys for the class will seek about $3.1MM in fees. After administration and other costs there should be over $8MM sitting out there for the class.

That’s a lot of dough. And none of it will go back to Block– this is sunk money folks.

Will keep an eye on the claims rate here.

In all seriousness though if you don’t know about CEMA and the vast risk the statute imposes you really need to educate yourself.

Troutman Amin, LLP has resources available to help in every state– especially Washington, but also especially wherever.

And we won’t suck like #biglaw!

Reach out for a FREE consultation (hahaha, never said that before. Kind of fun.)

Much love. Chat soon.

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Published by Eric "Czar" Troutman

The Czar of TCPAWorld Eric Troutman is one of the country’s prominent class action defense lawyers and is nationally recognized in Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) litigation and compliance. He has served as lead defense counsel in more than 70 national TCPA class actions and has litigated nearly a thousand individual TCPA cases in his role as national strategic litigation counsel for major banks and finance companies. He also helps industry participants build TCPA-compliant processes, policies, and systems. Eric has built a national litigation practice based upon deep experience, rigorous analysis and extraordinary responsiveness. Eric and his team feel equally at home litigating multibillion dollar telecommunications class actions in federal court as they do developing and executing national litigation strategies for institutions facing an onslaught of individual TCPA matters. They thrive in each of these roles – delivering consistently excellent results – while never losing sight of the client experience. While many firms now tout TCPA expertise, Eric has been there from the beginning. He built one of the country’s first TCPA-only defense teams and began serving as national TCPA counsel for his clients nearly a decade ago. This perspective allows him to swiftly develop the right litigation strategies for dealing with recurring problems, without wasting time on tactics that are bound to fail. Eric’s rich historical perspective and encyclopedic knowledge of the TCPA landscape also make him an invaluable resource to institutional compliance teams struggling to comply with the shifting regulatory landscape. No task is too small – or too big. Indeed, Eric and his team have helped build TCPA-compliant systems and processes for some of the largest and most complex corporate entities in the country. He commonly works with in-house compliance counsel to build and implement enterprise and business-line specific TCPA solutions, performs TCPA audits and drafts and reviews proposed TCPA policies and procedures. He and his team also have the technical expertise necessary to assist call centers seeking to develop TCPA-resistant call path architecture or to modify existing telephony and software integration to better insulate from potential TCPA exposure. Eric has built a reputation for thought leadership. An avid blogger and speaker, he has been at the forefront of the industry’s effort to push for clarity and a return to sanity for the TCPA for years. He was selected to advocate for the financial services industry on important TCPA issues before the Federal Communications Commission and co-authored the nation’s only comprehensive practice guide on TCPA defense. In his spare time, Eric leads defense teams representing banks and other financial services companies in consumer finance litigation matters. He has experience representing clients in UCC, TILA, RESPA FCRA, CCRA, CLRA, FDCPA, RFDCPA and FCCPA claims, as well as in fraud and bank operations issues.

1 Comment

  1. By my arithmetic, that settlement works out to around $4 per telephone number called. A real bonanza! Nonetheless, it looks like Kimberly Bottoms just made a bunch of friends!

    Reply

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