In most cases, court cases make for very dry reading. But Jonathan Anozie vs. Papa John's International is not a boring case. How can it be when the guy sued a pizza company simply for texting him too much?
According to the document, Jonathan Anozie claims that Papa John's started texting him in March, reports CNet. It's unclear just how many texts there were total. Anozie claims that the messages were in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and says Papa John's should pay $500 for each one.
One of the sample texts reads: "Papa John's: This Deal>>ANY 2 Large Pizzas up to 5-Toppings or Specialty for $9.99 each. Code: Text325 Thru 3/27 @http://PapaJohns.com/n. Reply STOP to cancel."
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Anozie says he texted back "STOP" many times, but Papa John's just kept on trying to lure him in with its deals on large pies. (That text actually made us want to check out its menu. John's Favorite, anyone? That's "pepperoni, sausage, a six-cheese blend, and Italian seasoning." Or maybe The Works? It includes pepperoni, Canadian bacon, spicy Italian sausage, onions, green peppers, mushrooms, and black olives. We'd let anyone text us about that — just sayin'.)
Anozie's lawyer Trinette G. Kent says all of these texts caused her client emotional distress. "Defendant's calls directly and substantially interfered with Plaintiff's right to peacefully enjoy a service that Plaintiff paid for and caused Plaintiff to suffer a significant amount of anxiety, frustration, and annoyance," she writes.
Other companies have been sued for robo-texting as well — Facebook is one of them.
Papa John's website says that it sends up to six text messages a month, and only if you sign up for its service. It says you can always text "STOP" to stop receiving promotional texts. Six a month doesn't seem that crazy to us — but then again, being left alone by ads is pretty priceless.