On November 9, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted final approval of a $49.9 million Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action settlement against US Coachways, Inc.
The original Complaint was filed against US Coachways on July 29, 2014, alleging that the motor coach leasing company sent out thousands of unlawful text messages to what they hoped were potential customers, in violation of the TCPA. The named plaintiff allegedly received more than 20 unsolicited text message advertisements.
The settlement class consists of "all persons within the United States who received one or more text advertisements on behalf of US Coachways, Inc. at any time in the four years prior to the filing of the Complaint continuing through the date of the Settlement Agreement." There were no requests for exclusion and no objections from the class, which consists of more than 85,000 individuals.
Because US Coachways cannot fund the settlement, the company tendered a claim for the action to its insurer for defense and indemnity, but the insurance company denied coverage to US Coachways. US Coachways has therefore assigned its rights against the insurer to Plaintiff and the class, and agreed to contribute $50,000 which was applied toward the cost of notice to the class. Plaintiff and his counsel will next pursue an action against the insurer to collect on the $49.9 million judgment.
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