Supreme Court Rejects Ad Firm Bid to Avoid Class-Action Suit for Unsolicited Texts

messages were part of a recruitment drive and were sent to around 100,000 people, emailed Sheppard Mullin class-action defense lawyer David Almeida. In September 2014, a court ruled the case could move forward despite a settlement offer to lead plaintiff Jose Gomez, Almedia said. The Supreme Court upheld a ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, rejecting Campbell-Ewald's bid to avoid the class action case -- Campbell-Ewald v. Gomez. Campbell-Ewald had argued that the court had no grounds to hear the case brought by Gomez on behalf of himself and others who received the messages because the advertising firm offered to pay Gomez the maximum amount available under the law to settle the claims. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, writing on behalf of the Supreme Court majority, said an "unaccepted settlement offer ... does not moot a plaintiff's case." Three of the court's conservatives, including Chief Justice John Roberts, dissented. Roberts said basic legal principles dictate that the case should have been brought to a close once the offer was made. "When a plaintiff files suit seeking redress for an alleged injury, and the defendant agrees to fully redress that injury, there is no longer a case or controversy," Roberts wrote. The case is one of three in the current Supreme Court term in which the justices are hearing class-action appeals, with one other brought by Spokeo.