A man is suing the Laugh Factory, alleging the Hollywood comedy club violated a federal consumer protection law by either directly sending him an unsolicited text message offering him free admission or that it was done through a third party.

Jeff Aguila filed the proposed class-action lawsuit Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court. He’s seeking unspecified damages.

A woman who answered the phone at the Laugh Factory said Monday she would refer a request for comment to the club’s public relations representative.

According to the complaint, Aguila received a Nov. 23 text message on his cell phone that stated, “RSVP for free admission to the Laugh Factory tonight at 8 p.m.” He says the message also contained a link to a website ad about a comedy show at the Laugh Factory that night.

“Plaintiff had never given any signed authorization to anyone expressly permitted defendants, or anyone acting on defendants’ behalf, to use his cellular telephone for a telemarketing or advertising purpose,” according to the lawsuit, which alleges the Laugh Factory is in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

Aguila believes his cell phone number and those of thousands of others were entered into a database and that the text message was sent using equipment capable of accessing the information to mass-dial numbers, the suit states.

Aguila further believes either the Laugh Factory sent the message to his phone directly, or that the club owners retained an entity called Eavesdropper to do so on their behalf, the suit states.

— Wire reports

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