LinkedIn has been sending checks of $20.43 to their users, courtesy a $13 million settlement that the company reached in 2015 with plaintiffs over the “annoying emails” that were sent to the users.
Actually got a settlement check from the @LinkedIn class action. Hello Venti extra-shot Starbucks! pic.twitter.com/MKO6N0HmGF
— Bethany Evans (@bethanycevans) October 18, 2016
The emails were sent as part of the LinkedIn’s Add Connections program which allowed users to import their personal contacts into the company’s system, and then these contacts were sent invitations to join LinkedIn on their behalf. However, the plaintiff exploited the “annoying” follow up emails that LinkedIn sent, repeating the invitation in case people didn’t respond to the earlier ones.
The key to the lawsuit was in the user’s consent. From the official settlement website:
“The Court found that members consented to importing their contacts and sending the connection invitation, but did not find that members consented to LinkedIn sending the two reminder emails. The Plaintiffs contend that LinkedIn members did not consent to the use of their names and likenesses in those reminder emails.”
So the company was sued, and after losing the case, LinkedIn was made to promise to make their email system less intrusive and repetitive and to limit the frequency and volume of email notifications, along with of course a hefty sum of money.
Anyone else get one of these class action settlement checks from LinkedIn-$LNKD pic.twitter.com/f3vkk6PB4p
— John Napolitano (@edgyloner) October 22, 2016
But here’s the catch, you will only get part of the settlement only if you claimed eligibility on the website before December 14, 2015. I better start checking my spam emails folders to identify other companies to sue!
Have you got the $20 check from LinkedIn? Comment below!