Pizza Hut Faces a New Lawsuit

Some companies just can't take a hint.

Things aren't going too well for Pizza Hut these days. The fast food company has been hit with a class action lawsuit that alleges it failed to stop sending text messages to people after they had opted out.

Plaintiff Daniel Cortez claims that he asked Pizza Hut to stop contacting him in April 2022, but continued to receive messages in May and June of that year. Cortez says this shows the company does not follow telemarketing protocols, nor provides proper training for its employees, thus violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

Cortez says the persistent texts caused "the invasion of privacy, harassment, aggravation, and disruption of the daily life of thousands of individuals."

The legal team is asking anyone else in the United States who has experienced promotional text messages from Pizza Hut after opting out within the last four years to come forward and join the lawsuit. Cortez wants a jury trial and reparatory payments to himself and all class members.

It is a bold move, for sure. To claim that the unwanted texts are harassment or even cause disruption of daily life will likely strike readers as a bit of a stretch. Online commenters on the site "The Takeout" don't seem sympathetic, saying, "For one thing, they almost certainly opted in, and while that obviously shouldn't prevent them from opting out later I think the relative benignity of text messages—as compared to phone calls—makes asking for monetary damages seem absurd."

Another pointed out that nobody pays per text message anymore, and it is easy to block numbers, so what's the big deal? Someone added, "The note in the lawsuit of 'disruption of daily lives' is where I lost any sympathy. If a text from Pizza Hut is ruining your day then you have some real problems in your life."

But there is truth in the fact that we as customers expect a certain degree of professional respect from companies when we buy their products. We trust them not to abuse our credit card numbers or other personal information, and even unwanted promotional texts—especially after we've asked not to receive them—can feel like a violation of sorts. It can't help but undermine a company's professionalism and appeal.

Pizza Hut's parent company Yum Brands needs some serious PR help because this is its second class action lawsuit to rear its ugly head this year alone. The other one addressed a data breach that occurred in January 2023, when a ransomware attack compromised the personal information of job applications and employees at KFC, increasing the risk of identity theft.