On April 30, 2019, the Second Circuit held that mere receipt of unsolicited text messages in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) constitutes an injury-in-fact sufficient to confer Article III standing. In Melito v. Experian Marketing Solutions, Inc., plaintiff consumers alleged that they received unsolicited text messages sent by or on behalf of American Eagle Outfitters in violation of the TCPA. No. 17-3277, (2nd Cir. Apr. 30, 2019). American Eagle agreed to settle the plaintiffs’ claims for $14.5 million. Plaintiffs moved for class certification and preliminary approval of the class action settlement before a federal district court in the Southern District of New York. Experian Marketing Solutions, a third-party defendant, objected to class certification and argued that sending unsolicited text messages was a “bare statutory violation” of the TCPA, which would not constitute an injury-in-fact sufficient to confer Article III standing following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, 136 S. Ct. 1540 (2016). The federal district court granted preliminary approval and conditionally certified the class. Experian appealed class certification to the Second Circuit.
The Second Circuit held that plaintiffs “were not required to demonstrate any additional harm” beyond receipt of unsolicited text messages in violation of the TCPA to establish Article III standing because “receipt of the unsolicited text messages, sans any other injury, is sufficient to demonstrate injury-in-fact.”