A federal judge has refused to toss a class action lawsuit launched against a tech company that is accused of helping former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas send spam text messages to Chicago voters promoting his ill-fated campaign for mayor of Chicago.
The judge, however, said she is not sure if the Vallas campaign organization itself can still be held accountable for the alleged violations of federal telecommunications law.
On Aug. 24, U.S. District Judge Martha M. Pacold ruled in favor of a pair of plaintiffs who sued the Vallas campaign and Link2Tek, a North Carolina-based company that specializes in helping Democratic campaign organizations and candidates use text messaging and other “telephony products and services” to boost their campaign messages to voters.
The named plaintiffs, identified as Jeff Klueh and Jake Campbell, filed suit in January 2019 through attorney James Vlahakis, of Sulaiman Law Group in suburban Lombard. The group also operates as Atlas Consumer Law, and focused on consumer-based litigation, including class actions involving the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
The lawsuit centered on text messages allegedly sent by Vallas’ campaign when he ran as a Democrat, seeking the mayor’s office in 2019. That contest was eventually won by current Mayor Lori Lightfoot, amid a crowded Democratic field, following the decision by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel to not seek reelection.
The lawsuit alleges the text messages violated the federal TCPA law, which prohibits automated and unsolicited calls or text messages to mobile phones. They alleged Vallas’ campaign sent thousands of such text messages to Chicago city residents, promoting Vallas’ candidacy.
According to the complaint, the messages did not include a “stop” option to allow recipients to tell the campaign they did not wish to continue receiving such messages.
The plaintiffs assert they believe the Vallas campaign obtained their phone numbers by buying or otherwise acquiring a mass list or database of numbers without the number holders’ authorization, or that the numbers were called using number generation.
Under the TCPA law, the campaign and Link2Tek could be on the hook for damages of at least $500 per text message. The plaintiffs want the damages tripled.
Link2Tek asked the judge to dismiss the lawsuit, asserting it cannot be sued for “simply ‘transmitting’ the Vallas campaign’s messages.”
The judge, however, said the exact extent of Link2Tek’s role in creating and sending the text messages is a matter for later in the proceedings.
“The complaint alleges that either Link2Tek, the Vallas campaign, or both sent the text messages,” Judge Pacold wrote. “Specifically, it alleges that the Vallas campaign ‘used Link2Tek … to send thousands of unsolicited campaign text messages’ and that ‘Link2Tek … sent thousands of unsolicited and generic Political Text Messages.’
“The complaint sufficiently alleges that Link2Tek sent or initiated the text messages in question.”
Judge Pacold, however, said future proceedings also need to deal with the question of whether the Vallas campaign itself can still be sued.
According to court documents, the campaign organization was dissolved, but the campaign’s attorneys have not filed any documents with the court reflecting that dissolution.
According to court records, the Vallas campaign and Link2Tek have been represented by attorneys with the firm of Arent Fox LLP, of Washington, D.C.