TCPA Class Action Lawsuit Continues Against Path Inc.

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A TCPA class action lawsuit against social networking company Path Inc. over alleged text spam will continue after a federal judge concluded the auto-dialing devices the company used are subject to the rules of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The judge also denied Path’s motion to strike certain plaintiff’s evidence from the court proceeding.

Plaintiff Kevin Sterk of Illinois alleges in his TCPA lawsuit that he received an unsolicited text message from Path that he believes was sent to him and other consumers nationwide from an automated dialing machine. Sterk’s TCPA class action lawsuit claims that Path violated TCPA rules about gathering and contacting consumers’ phone numbers without their consent and also for “inconveniencing consumers, and causing such consumers to bear the burden of paying for the text message calls.”

Path contends that its dialing system does not fall under the TCPA category of automatic telephone dialing systems (ATDS), because while its automated dialer can store and contact consumer numbers, it does not perform this function by using a random or sequential number generator. Instead, Path’s dialing machines only dial numbers furnished by a contact list that is created from current Path users’ address books.

Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan denied Path’s motion and upheld Sterk’s evidence, stating, “The undisputed facts show that the equipment used by Path, which makes calls from a stored list without human intervention, is comparable to the predictive dialers that have been found by the FCC to constitute an ATDS.”

Congress in 1991 passed the Telephone Consumer Protection Act to restrict telephone soliciting and telemarketing, especially those made by automated dialing telephone equipment, computerized voice messages, and mass text message advertisements. Many TCPA rules are concerned with delineating what constitutes consumer consent to receiving any kind of autodial and robotic messages or calls.

Background on Path Inc.

Path Inc. is a photo-sharing social networking company. The Path application, available for download on Android, Apple, and Windows devices, allows users to share photos and other content with up to 150 contacts.

The text spam lawsuit against Path is not the first time Path’s business practices have been questioned. Path came under scrutiny in February 2012, when it was discovered that Path may have been accessing and storing their members’ phone contacts without user permission. A year later, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) fined Path $800,000 for storing data belonging to underage users. In April 2013, several Path users posted on social media sites alleging that Path  had accessed their phone contacts to send text message invitations to join social networking sites without the original users’ consent.

Join a Free TCPA Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you were contacted on your cell phone by a company via an unsolicited text message (text spam) or prerecorded voice message (robocall), you may be eligible for compensation under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Learn more and see if you qualify for a legal claim at the Text Message Spam, Unwanted Cell Phone Calls TCPA Class Action Lawsuit Settlement Investigation.

UPDATE: On Dec. 10, 2015, readers began reporting they were receiving checks in the mail from the Path TCPA class action settlement. Congratulations to everyone who submitted a valid claim and got PAID!