Hudson v. Ralph Lauren Corp.

385 F. Supp. 3d 639
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Illinois
DecidedMay 1, 2019
DocketNo. 18 C 4620
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 385 F. Supp. 3d 639 (Hudson v. Ralph Lauren Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hudson v. Ralph Lauren Corp., 385 F. Supp. 3d 639 (illinoised 2019).

Opinion

SARA L. ELLIS, United States District Judge

Plaintiff Patrick Hudson received approximately 188 text messages from Defendants Ralph Lauren Corporation and Ralph Lauren Retail, Inc. (collectively, "Ralph Lauren"), and Ralph Lauren's marketing company, Vibes Media, LLC ("Vibes"). Hudson thereafter filed this putative class action lawsuit against Defendants for violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act ("TCPA"), 47 U.S.C. § 227 et seq. , claiming that Defendants violated the TCPA by sending him text messages using an automatic telephone dialing system ("ATDS") without his express consent and by failing to include opt-out instructions in each message. Defendants have filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). The Court finds that the first amended complaint does not conclusively establish the existence of prior express consent to receive the number of messages Defendants sent Hudson and that Hudson has sufficiently alleged the use of an ATDS. But because the TCPA and its regulations do not provide a basis for Hudson's claim for failure to include opt-out instructions in each text message, Hudson cannot pursue this aspect of his TCPA claim.

BACKGROUND1

Ralph Lauren works with Vibes, a marketing company, to promote the Ralph *641Lauren retail and clothing brand through advertising and promotional campaigns sent to consumers through their mobile devices. Ralph Lauren enlisted Vibes to create a customized software platform and text messaging campaign.

On May 17, 2015, Hudson received a message from Defendants, through the short message service ("SMS") shortcode 894-48,2 which stated:

PoloFactoryStores: Reply Y to get automated offers & ads. Consent is not a condition of purchase. Up to 6 alert msgs/mo.Msg&DataRatesMayApply.Rply STOP to end.

Doc. 34 ¶ 14. Hudson replied "Y." Id. ¶ 15. Defendants proceeded to send Hudson more than six messages a month, all from the same 894-48 SMS code. For example, in July 2016, Defendants sent Hudson ten text messages, and, in July 2017, Defendants sent him eight text messages. In total, he received at least thirty-two messages over the monthly limits to which he consented. Out of the approximately 188 text messages Hudson received from Defendants, eighty percent did not include instructions as to how to stop receiving the messages. All of the text messages marketed Ralph Lauren's products, and none addressed Hudson by name. Defendants sent similar text messages to other individuals as well.

LEGAL STANDARD

A motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) challenges the sufficiency of the complaint, not its merits. Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) ; Gibson v. City of Chicago , 910 F.2d 1510, 1520 (7th Cir. 1990). In considering a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, the Court accepts as true all well-pleaded facts in the plaintiff's complaint and draws all reasonable inferences from those facts in the plaintiff's favor. AnchorBank, FSB v. Hofer , 649 F.3d 610, 614 (7th Cir. 2011). To survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, the complaint must not only provide the defendant with fair notice of a claim's basis but must also be facially plausible. Ashcroft v. Iqbal , 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed. 2d 868 (2009) ; see also Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly , 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed. 2d 929 (2007). "A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged." Iqbal , 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937.

ANALYSIS

The TCPA prohibits the use of an ATDS to call or send text messages to cellular telephones without the recipient's prior express consent. 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(A)(iii) ; see In Re Rules & Regulations Implementing the Tel. Consumer Prot. Act of 1991 ("2003 Order"), 18 FCC Rcd. 14014, 14115 ¶ 165 (2003) (TCPA applies to both "voice calls and text calls to wireless numbers");3

*642Lozano v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. , 702 F. Supp. 2d 999, 1009 (N.D. Ill. 2010) ("[T]he Court agrees with the FCC's interpretation that § 227 of the TCPA applies to text messages.").

I. Prior Express Consent

Defendants first argue that Hudson's claim fails because he admits that he provided prior express consent for Defendants to contact him and that the message to which he replied did not limit the consent in any way. Defendants claim Hudson may have a breach of contract claim for any additional messages he received each month, but not a TCPA claim.

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385 F. Supp. 3d 639, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hudson-v-ralph-lauren-corp-illinoised-2019.