Plaintiff Seeks to Stop Shoe Retailer From ‘Bombarding’ Her With Text Messages

Shoes for Crews, a shoe retailer and manufacturer, promotes its products by engaging in aggressive unsolicited marketing, “harming thousands of consumers in the process,” alleged Micah DeClerk’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action Tuesday (docket 9:24-cv-80732) in U.S. District Court for Southern Florida. Shoes for Crews uses “aggressive marketing to push its products without regards to consumers’ rights under the TCPA," said DeClerk’s complaint. The Pulaski County, Arkansas, resident seeks injunctive relief to halt the defendant’s illegal conduct, “which has resulted in the invasion of privacy, harassment, aggravation, and disruption of the daily life of thousands of individuals,” it said. She also seeks statutory damages on behalf of herself and members of the class, “and any other available legal or equitable remedies,” it said. In late 2023, Shoes for Crews began “bombarding” DeClerk with telemarketing text messages to her cellphone number, though the plaintiff personally listed her number on the national do not call registry in September, said the complaint. At no point in time did DeClerk provide Shoes for Crews with her express written consent to be contacted, it said. The plaintiff also has no existing business relationship with the defendant, it said. The defendant’s unsolicited text messages caused DeClerk “actual harm,” said the complaint. The defendant’s text messages also inconvenienced her and caused disruption to her daily life, it said. DeClerk estimates that she has wasted 15-30 seconds reviewing each of the defendant’s unwanted messages, it said. Each time, DeClerk had to stop what she was doing to either retrieve her phone or look down at the phone to review the message, it said.