Lawsuit: Hillsdale College engaged in ‘unlawful spams’
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Several California residents have filed a lawsuit against Hillsdale College for spam emails, court documents show.
California’s anti-spam laws regulate spam sent to residents, according to a complaint filed Thursday in federal court.
Hillsdale College and several third-party publishers, who sent emails on Hillsdale’s behalf, are accused of sending over 1,400 “unlawful unsolicited commercial email advertisements” that promoted the college.
In the lawsuit, the third-party publishers are accused of concealing their identities to send the emails, allegedly using untraceable domain names — or third-party domain names without permission — in email headers so that recipients could not identify who actually sent the emails.
Even if Hillsdale itself did not actually send the emails, the lawsuit says the college chose to work with third-party senders to promote itself and can also be held responsible for the emails.
“This Court should award liquidated damages of $1,000 per email … and not consider any reduction in damages, because Hillsdale and its affiliate-senders failed to implement reasonably effective systems to prevent advertising in/conspiring to advertise in unlawful spams,” the complaint reads.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
