Subway Restaurant Chain Secures Defeat of Robotext Suit

A trial court was right to throw out a complaint alleging Subway Restaurants Inc. violated a U.S. robocall law with text messages promoting sandwiches, the Seventh Circuit ruled..

The appeals court upheld the dismissal of Matthew Warciak’s lawsuit, which alleged Subway engaged in a “common law agency relationship” with T-Mobile US Inc. and violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

The ruling is the latest federal appeals court decision involving the TCPA, which bars companies from using certain technology to text or call consumers without express consent.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit said the complaint lacked “sufficient facts showing Subway manifested to the public that T-Mobile was its agent.” The text message indicated that T-Mobile had control over the content, recipients, and timing, the court said.

The Seventh Circuit also found that the lower court’s application of the robocall law’s wireless carrier exemption was proper.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois had found Warciak’s complaint didn’t allege sufficient facts that Subway controlled the “timing, content, or recipients of the text message.”

The case is Warciak v. Subway Rests., Inc., 2020 BL 39559, 7th Cir., 19-1577, 2/5/20.