A federal judge has granted preliminary approval to a $7 million settlement submitted by GSI Commerce Inc., Timberland and a Florida wireless carrier to settle allegations they sent unsolicited advertisements for Timberland products via text messaging in 2005. Defendants in the case agreed to establish a settlement fund of up to $7 million in a class action lawsuit filed by Jeffrey Weinstein and Lei Shen.
In a statement released to the New Hampshire Business Review, Timberland said it would not be paying into the fund and that the messages were “sent on behalf of Timberland, but not by Timberland.”
The statement added, “Timberland authorized GSI to implement this particular marketing program, and GSI contracted with a third party, AirIt2Me, to execute the program. We have learned that AirIt2Me worked with an additional company to assist with the program. The case was settled before it was determined which company actually sent the text messages, except it is true that neither Timberland nor GSI sent them.”
