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Wednesday, March 27, 2024 | Back issues
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Man Must Refine Claims Over Coca-Cola Texts

ATLANTA (CN) - A man suing Coca-Cola on behalf of consumers who received unsolicited text messages from the soda giant will have to clarify his claims, a federal judge ruled last week.

Brian Groves filed a class action lawsuit against the Coca-Cola Company last year, alleging that it violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by sending unsolicited SMS messages to cell phone users nationwide.

Groves claimed that he received unsolicited messages promoting Coke products in 2012, and that such messages were placed via an automatic dialing system, in violation of federal laws. The plaintiff replied "STOP" to one of the messages in an effort to end their transmission, according to the complaint.

What's more, Groves was charged for the incoming messages, to which he did not consent, he claimed in the lawsuit.

Groves' original action, filed on behalf of all U.S. cell phone and pager users who received unsolicited text messages from Coca-Cola or its agents via automatic dialing, was transferred last year from the Southern District of California to Federal Court in Atlanta.

Coca-Cola argued that Groves' pleading was too vague or ambiguous for the company to prepare a response, asking for a more definite statement or, in the alternative, for dismissal of the claims.

U.S. District Judge Richard Story ruled May 26 that Groves must amend his complaint to include additional allegations that would help Coca-Cola identify the messages at issue.

The court refused to dismiss the claims, but said the amended complaint should include additional facts, such as the specific time period when Groves received the messages at issue, what the messages said, the phone number from which they were sent and other identifying information.

Groves has 14 days to file his restated complaint, according to the order.

Representatives of Coca-Cola did not respond to a request for comment.

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