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Florida marijuana business sued by consumer

by | Jan 2, 2020 | Business Litigation |

According to news sources, a Florida marijuana business is facing a lawsuit over unwanted text messages. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida by a man from Tennessee.

The plaintiff alleges that Trulieve Inc., which is based in Quincy, Florida, sent unsolicited text messages to him in violation of federal law. The text messages contained advertisements for the company’s cannabis products. Trulieve is one of 22 medical marijuana businesses in Florida. The lawsuit does not explain how Trulieve obtained the plaintiff’s phone number or whether he is a patron of Trulieve.

The plaintiff is requesting class-action status for his lawsuit and is asking for $1,500 in damages for each violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The lawsuit claims that the class of plaintiffs could number in the tens of thousands, meaning that the damages could exceed the $5 million federal threshold for class-action lawsuits. Many medical marijuana businesses in Florida send text messages to their customers to advertise sales and specials. The plaintiff also alleges that he had to spend 10 minutes trying to determine how his number had been obtained and that the messages were stored on his phone, taking up space and potentially rendering it unusable for texting. In addition to monetary damages, the plaintiff is asking the court to ban Trulieve from sending text messages to people without first obtaining their consent.

This lawsuit illustrates that companies are sometimes sued when they engage in activities that they might consider to be ordinary business practices. Organizations that have been sued or are under the threat of a lawsuit might want to consult with experienced business litigation attorneys. Lawyers might review the facts of what occurred and advise their clients about the legal options that are available to them. Attorneys may also litigate on behalf of their clients to protect their interests.

Source: Tampa Bay Business Journal, “Lawsuit targets Florida marijuana firm over text messages,” Dara Kam, Dec. 12, 2019

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