Tweet
Like many other Buffalo expatriates who have moved far away from Ralph Wilson Stadium, Jerry Wojcik wanted to stay connected to his hometown Bills.
So earlier this season, the Florida resident signed up for a Bills program that sends fans text messages.
Trouble is, he says, the text alerts became too frequent. So now he and his attorneys are suing the Bills, in the form of a class-action lawsuit, complaining that the team sent him a few extra messages.
In their legal papers, his attorneys claim that after he signed up for a Bills program that pledged to send him no more than five text alerts per week, he instead received six messages one week and seven a few weeks later.
That’s a total of three extra texts, over several weeks.
Some people clearly would label this a frivolous lawsuit.
“I’m just appalled,” a Bills fan with personal knowledge of the case said, before turning sarcastic. “Obviously, he was grievously harmed and is deserving of a pile of season-ticket money.”
Buffalo attorney Thomas H. Burton, who has served as both a plaintiffs’ and defense attorney, sounded concerns about the effect such lawsuits have on public perceptions of the legal system.
“I like to think that the plaintiff attorneys, at least around here, bring these claims when someone has a legitimate and meaningful injury and real damages,” Burton said. “My sense is that as long as you stick to the good substantive cases, citizens and jurors don’t have a bad view of the system.
“I’m not sure suing over text messages fits the bill.”
So earlier this season, the Florida resident signed up for a Bills program that sends fans text messages.
Trouble is, he says, the text alerts became too frequent. So now he and his attorneys are suing the Bills, in the form of a class-action lawsuit, complaining that the team sent him a few extra messages.
In their legal papers, his attorneys claim that after he signed up for a Bills program that pledged to send him no more than five text alerts per week, he instead received six messages one week and seven a few weeks later.
That’s a total of three extra texts, over several weeks.
Some people clearly would label this a frivolous lawsuit.
“I’m just appalled,” a Bills fan with personal knowledge of the case said, before turning sarcastic. “Obviously, he was grievously harmed and is deserving of a pile of season-ticket money.”
Buffalo attorney Thomas H. Burton, who has served as both a plaintiffs’ and defense attorney, sounded concerns about the effect such lawsuits have on public perceptions of the legal system.
“I like to think that the plaintiff attorneys, at least around here, bring these claims when someone has a legitimate and meaningful injury and real damages,” Burton said. “My sense is that as long as you stick to the good substantive cases, citizens and jurors don’t have a bad view of the system.
“I’m not sure suing over text messages fits the bill.”
Comment