http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ ... story.htmlA Wisconsin woman filed a text spam lawsuit against CBS Radio, alleging that its WSCR-AM 670 The Score station in Chicago sent unwanted messages that cost her time on her prepaid cellphone.
The lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, was filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in the eastern district of Wisconsin.
Class members could be eligible for up to $1,500 for each call or text that violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which was enacted in response to a growing number of complaints over telemarketing practices.
Lead plaintiff Elaine Bonin of Franklin, Wis., detailed in the lawsuit at least four incidents earlier this year in which she received text messages about the Chicago Bears, Super Bowl, Chicago Bulls and Chicago White Sox despite having "no interest in Chicago sports" and never having agreed to allow CBS or 670 The Score to contact her on her TracFone cellphone.
TracFones are prepaid wireless phones in which the user buys "minutes" that are loaded onto the phone, and are then deducted when the person talks on the phone or sends or gets texts, the lawsuit said.
Each unsolicited text message from CBS cost Bonin "0.3 minutes" of her TracFone allotment, the lawsuit said.
Class members should be anyone in the United States who, on or after June 7, 2012, got a nonemergency text message from or on behalf of CBS to a cellphone through the use of an automatic phone dialing system or a prerecorded voice, and who didn't provide their cellphone number or who revoked earlier consent, the lawsuit said.
The class size is believed to be, at minimum, in the hundreds and potentially in the thousands, the lawsuit said.
Kristina Quintos, spokeswoman for CBS Radio/670 The Score, said the complaint is being reviewed. "We take seriously our responsibility to adhere to all government requirements regarding cell phone messaging," she said.
Bonin's lawyer, John Blythin, of Cudahy, Wis., couldn't be reached for immediate comment.