Are you a victim of illegal robocalls, text messages or “junk” faxes?

May 7, 2020 | Consumer Protection, Employment & Technology Archive

Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. Is Making Consumers Aware of Entities Named As Defendants In Recently Filed Class Action Lawsuits Alleging Violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act
Wise Travel, Inc

Defendant, “a travel booking agency,” allegedly sent telemarketing text messages to Plaintiff’s cellular phone.  The complaint contained the following copies of text messages the Plaintiff received from “short code” 343-78:

Travel Resorts of America, Inc.

Defendant, allegedly, “placed at least twenty . . . unsolicited calls and voicemails to Plaintiff’s cellular telephone from the telephone number (772) 224-3093.”  One example in the complaint of a call/voicemail the Plaintiff received is as follows:

Springville Partners LLC

Springville Partners, allegedly, placed a telemarketing call to one of the Plaintiff’s cell phone from telephone number (929) 364-0998 to solicit Plaintiff for a loan. The Defendant also, allegedly, placed a telemarketing call to another Plaintiff’s cell phone from telephone number (347) 778-5191.

SmileDirectClub, LLC

Allegedly, the Plaintiff received unsolicited calls from (443) 498-4301, (443) 355-4808, and (443) 355-4693, as well as the following text messages from short code 75093:

Your new smile is waiting! Text FULLPAY to get started for a one-time payment of $1895 or SMILEPAY for $250 down and $85/month for 24mo – SmileDirectClub.

Hi Jackie, it’s Villard from your local SmileDirectClub Smileshop! ?I see your smile plan is ready for production and was hoping to answer any questions that didn’t come up during your appointment. If you have any questions, simply text back or call 800-688-0450 to talk to someone on our team!

Allegedly, the Plaintiff received two additional text messages, despite a text message from the Plaintiff advising SmileDirectClub not to contact Plaintiff.

SelectQuote Insurance Services

The Plaintiff’s cell phone, allegedly, received an unsolicited call from (619) 353-1292.

Reliance First Capital, LLC

Reliance First Capital, allegedly, contacted Plaintiff on Plaintiff’s cell phone in an effort to solicit Plaintiff to purchase the services of Reliance First Capital.

Press Ganey Associates LLC

Press Ganey Associates, allegedly, “. . . utilized . . . a sophisticated telephone dialing system to send text messages to individuals en masse promoting its services. On information and belief, Defendant obtained these telephone numbers (i.e., leads) by purchasing marketing lists containing consumers’ telephone numbers.”

Optimal Logistics LLC and Other Unknown Defendants

Allegedly, Defendant contacted Plaintiff’s cell phone without Plaintiff’s prior express consent in an effort to solicit Plaintiff to buy Defendant’s services.

Mindbody, Inc.

Mindbody, allegedly, “caused” a text message to be sent to Plaintiff’s cellular telephone.  The complaint contained the following copy of the text message Plaintiff received from (805) 973-0823:

Do You Believe You Are a Victim of Illegal Robocalls, Text Messages, “Junk” Faxes or Telemarketing Sales Calls?

If you have received illegal robocalls, text messages, “junk” faxes or telemarketing sales calls, you may be able to recover at least $500 for each illegal call, text or fax you received and, possibly, as much as $1,500 for each illegal call, text message or facsimile that was made either willfully or knowingly in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

To help evaluate your potential legal claims under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, please complete KLF’s confidential Robocall Questionnaire or, if you prefer to speak with an attorney, please complete the form above on the right, e-mail [email protected] or contact Michael Yarnoff, Esq., [email protected], (215) 792-6676, Ext. 804, for a free, no-obligation evaluation of your potential legal rights.

Kehoe Law Firm, P.C.

More Than 40 Warning Letters Sent By FTC To COVID-19 Marketers

May 7, 2020 | Consumer Protection, Employment & Technology Archive

FTC Sends 45 Additional Warning Letters To Marketers To Stop Making Unsubstantiated Claims That Their Products And Therapies Can Treat Or Prevent COVID-19, The Disease Caused By the Coronavirus

Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. is making consumers aware that the Federal Trade Commission announced that it has sent 45 more letters warning marketers nationwide to stop making unsubstantiated claims that their products and therapies can treat or prevent COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus.  The FTC has sent similar letters to almost 100 companies and individuals.

The FTC previously sent warning letters to sellers of vitamins, herbs, colloidal silver, teas, essential oils, and other products pitched as scientifically proven coronavirus treatments or preventatives.intravenous (IV) “therapies” with high doses of Vitamin C, ozone therapy, and purported stem cell treatments.

Several of the letters announced today target other “treatments,” including Chinese herbal medications, music therapy, homeopathic treatments, and even shields claimed to boost the immune system by protecting the wearer from electromagnetic fields. However, according to the FTC, there is currently no scientific evidence that these, or any, products or services can treat or cure coronavirus.

The FTC sent the letters announced today to the companies and individuals listed below. The recipients are grouped based on the type of therapy, product, or service they pitched to supposedly prevent or treat COVID-19.

General Therapy Products, Supplements, Drugs, and Chinese Herbal Treatments
IV Therapy and Vitamin C Therapy
Air Purifiers/Sanitizers and Water Filters
Chiropractic Therapy
EMF Radiation Protection
Homeopathic Treatments
Music Therapy
Ozone Therapy

In the letters, the FTC states that one or more of the efficacy claims made by the marketers are unsubstantiated because they are not supported by scientific evidence, and therefore violate the FTC Act. The letters advise the recipients to immediately stop making all claims that their products can treat or cure COVID-19, and to notify the FTC within 48 hours about the specific actions they have taken to address the agency’s concerns. The letters also note that if the false claims do not cease, the FTC may seek a federal court injunction and an order requiring money to be refunded to consumers. Last week, the FTC announced its first case against a marketer of such products, Marc Ching, doing business as Whole Leaf Organics.

The FTC also has sent letters to several Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service providers, warning them that it is illegal to aid or facilitate the transmission of pre-recorded telemarketing robocalls pitching supposed coronavirus-related products or services, as well as to multi-level marketers business opportunities with unsupported earnings claims and unsubstantiated claims that their products or services can treat or cure coronavirus.

Source: Federal Trade Commission – FTC.gov

Kehoe Law Firm, P.C.

Have You Been Texted By Quicken Loans Without Your Consent?

May 7, 2020 | Consumer Protection, Employment & Technology Archive

Telephone Consumer Protection Act Lawsuit Challenges The Telemarketing Text Message Practices of Quicken Loans 

Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. is making consumers aware that on May 6, 2020, a class action lawsuit was filed against Quicken Loans, Inc. (“Quicken Loans”) in United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama regarding Quicken Loans’ alleged “use of dishonest marketing practices in order to gain access to consumers’ cellular phone numbers for purposes of placing telemarketing text messages, en masse, to those consumers for the benefit of Defendant.”

The complaint alleges that Quicken Loans

. . . obtains consumer contact information through various websites that prey on consumers, frequently with low-incomes, by making the illusory offer of a cash loan in exchange for completing a survey.

One of the websites that Defendant obtains consumer contact information from is www.100KSurveyToday.com . . .. The actual owner/operator of the web site is in no way clear to the consumer.

. . . [W]hen a consumer visits [www.100KSurvetyToday.com], the consumer is enticed to fill out a survey about what the consumer would do with a hypothetical $100,000 loan . . ..

The Plaintiff, according to the complaint, “was lured into visiting the [aforementioned] [w]ebsite because she was interested in receiving loan terms for the $100,000 loan offer advertised on the [website].” After the Plaintiff submitted her cell phone number and clicked “See my results,” the Plaintiff “did not receive the promised loan offer advertised on the [w]ebsite,” but rather “multiple marketing text messages from [Quicken Loans] sent from SMS Code 26293.”

The complaint contained the following examples of unsolicited telemarketing text message received by the Plaintiff without her express consent to receive telemarketing text messages on Plaintiff’s cellular telephone:

Do You Believe You Are a Victim of Illegal Robocalls, Text Messages, “Junk” Faxes or Telemarketing Sales Calls?

If you have received illegal robocalls, text messages, “junk” faxes or telemarketing sales calls, you may be able to recover at least $500 for each illegal call, text or fax you received and, possibly, as much as $1,500 for each illegal call, text message or facsimile that was made either willfully or knowingly in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

To help evaluate your potential legal claims under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, please complete KLF’s confidential Robocall Questionnaire or, if you prefer to speak with an attorney, please complete the form above on the right, e-mail [email protected] or contact Michael Yarnoff, Esq., [email protected], (215) 792-6676, Ext. 804, for a free, no-obligation evaluation of your potential legal rights.

Kehoe Law Firm, P.C.

 

GoDaddy Data Breach – Incident Impacts Web Hosting Accounts

May 5, 2020 | Consumer Protection, Employment & Technology Archive

GoDaddy Reports Security Incident Impacting GoDaddy Web Hosting Account Credentials

Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. is making consumers aware that GoDaddy.com LLC submitted a data breach notification sample to the State of California Department of Justice, Office Of The Attorney General, regarding a security incident impacting GoDaddy web hosting account credentials.

GoDaddy stated the following in the notification:

We recently identified suspicious activity on a subset of our servers and immediately began an investigation. The investigation found that an unauthorized individual had access to your login information used to connect to SSH on your hosting account. We have no evidence that any files were added or modified on your account. The unauthorized individual has been blocked from our systems, and we continue to investigate potential impact across our environment.

We have proactively reset your hosting account login information to help prevent any potential unauthorized access; you will need to follow these steps in order to regain access. Out of an abundance of caution, we recommend you conduct an audit of your hosting account.

This incident is limited in scope to your hosting account. Your main GoDaddy.com customer account, and the information stored within your customer account, was not accessible by this threat actor. [Emphasis added.]

Have You Been Impacted by A Data Breach?

If so, please either contact Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. Partner Michael Yarnoff, Esq., (215) 792-6676, Ext. 804, [email protected], complete the form on the right or e-mail [email protected] for a free, no-obligation case evaluation of your facts to determine whether your privacy rights have been violated and whether there is a basis for a data privacy class action.

Examples of the type of relief sought by data privacy class actions, include, but are not limited to, reimbursement of identity theft losses and of out-of-pocket costs paid by data breach victims for protective measures such as credit monitoring services, credit reports, and credit freezes; compensation for time spent responding to the breach; imposition of credit monitoring services and identity theft insurance, paid for by the defendant company; and improvements to the defendant company’s data security systems.

Data privacy class actions are brought on a contingent-fee basis; thus, plaintiffs and the class members do not pay out-of-pocket attorney’s fees or litigation costs.  Subject to court approval, attorney’s fees and litigation costs are derived from the recovery obtained for the class.

Kehoe Law Firm, P.C.

Hertz Body Damage Appraisers Allegedly Misclassified As OT Exempt

May 5, 2020 | Consumer Protection, Employment & Technology Archive

Lawsuit Filed Against The Hertz Corporation To Recover Unpaid Overtime On Behalf of Body Damage Appraisers 

Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. is making individuals aware that a class and collective action complaint has been filed in United States District Court, Northern District of California, against The Hertz Corporation (“Hertz”) to recover unpaid overtime pay on behalf of Hertz Body Damage Appraisers who, allegedly, were misclassified as exempt from federal and state overtime requirements.

Hertz, according to the complaint,

. . . required and/or knowingly permitted Plaintiff and other [Body Damage] Appraisers to work hours considerably in excess of eight hours a day and/or 40 hours a week. Plaintiff is informed and believes that it was Hertz’s policy and practice to require and/or knowingly permit [Body Damage] Appraisers to work overtime hours without receiving overtime compensation.

Hertz did not have a policy or practice to provide duty and control free meal periods to Plaintiff and its other [Body Damage] Appraisers.

Hertz did not have a policy or practice to permit and/or authorize duty and control free rest breaks to Plaintiff and its other [Body Damage] Appraisers.

. . .

As a result of Hertz misclassifying [Body Damage] Appraisers as ‘exempt,’ it failed to pay premium overtime compensation to Plaintiff and similarly situated [Body Damage] Appraisers for hours worked over eight in a day and 40 in a week.

As a result of misclassifying [Body Damage] Appraisers as ‘exempt,’ Hertz willfully failed to pay [Body Damage] Appraisers at the time of termination of employment all accrued overtime, meal period, and rest break compensation.

Plaintiff is informed and believes that Hertz misclassified [Body Damage] Appraisers as exempt to avoid paying overtime wages, providing off-duty meal periods and rest breaks to employees who worked overtime hours, and compensating [Body Damage] Appraisers for missed meal period and rest breaks. [Emphasis added.]

Do You Believe Your Wage and Hour or Overtime Pay Rights Have Been Violated? 

If you believe your wage and hour or overtime pay rights have been violated please either contact Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. Partner Michael Yarnoff, Esq., (215) 792-6676, Ext. 804, [email protected], complete the form on the right or send an e-mail to [email protected] for a free, no-obligation case evaluation of your facts to determine whether your wage and hour or overtime rights have been violated and whether there is a basis for a class action lawsuit. 

Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. prosecutes wage and hour class actions on a contingent-fee basis; thus, plaintiffs and the class members do not pay out-of-pocket attorney’s fees or litigation costs.  Subject to court approval, attorney’s fees and litigation costs are derived from the recovery obtained for the class. 

Kehoe Law Firm, P.C.  

Dick’s Assistant Sales Managers – Dick’s Assistant Store Managers

May 5, 2020 | Consumer Protection, Employment & Technology Archive

Lawsuit Filed Against Dick’s Sporting Goods Seeking To Recover Unpaid Overtime Compensation On Behalf Of Assistant Sales Managers and Assistant Store Managers

Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. is making individuals aware that a class and collective action complaint has been filed in United States District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania, against Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc. (“Dick’s”) to recover unpaid overtime compensation on behalf of Dick’s Assistant Sales Managers and Assistant Store Managers who, allegedly, were misclassified as exempt from state and federal overtime requirements.

According to the complaint, Dick’s Sporting Goods

. . . was aware that Plaintiffs and the Class Members worked more than 40 hours per workweek, yet Defendant [Dick’s] failed to pay overtime compensation for hours worked over 40 in a workweek.

Defendant [Dick’s] did not keep accurate records of hours worked by Plaintiffs or the Class Members.

Plaintiffs’ and the Class Members’ primary duties were routine, non-exempt tasks including, but not limited to: running the registers, stocking, cleaning, processing shipments, building displays, selling firearms, covering cashier’s breaks, helping with trucks by unloading and putting the items in their proper department, cutting open boxes, and putting items away.

Plaintiffs and the Class Members spent the majority of their time as Assistant Managers performing these duties that were the same as or similar to tasks performed by hourly, non-exempt employees.

Plaintiffs’ and the Class Members’ primary duties as Assistant Managers did not differ substantially from the duties of hourly, non-exempt employees. [Emphasis added.]

Do You Believe Your Wage and Hour or Overtime Pay Rights Have Been Violated? 

If you believe your wage and hour or overtime pay rights have been violated please either contact Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. Partner Michael Yarnoff, Esq., (215) 792-6676, Ext. 804, [email protected], complete the form on the right or send an e-mail to [email protected] for a free, no-obligation case evaluation of your facts to determine whether your wage and hour or overtime rights have been violated and whether there is a basis for a class action lawsuit. 

Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. prosecutes wage and hour class actions on a contingent-fee basis; thus, plaintiffs and the class members do not pay out-of-pocket attorney’s fees or litigation costs.  Subject to court approval, attorney’s fees and litigation costs are derived from the recovery obtained for the class. 

Kehoe Law Firm, P.C.