Sending too many emails can be costly.
LinkedIn is finding this out the hard way. The social networking site agreed to pay $13 million to settle a lawsuit from members who complained that unwanted emails were sent out on their behalf.
LinkedIn emailed users Friday informing them of the class action settlement.
As part of the settlement, LinkedIn agreed to tell members that two email reminders may be sent to each requested connection. By next year, users will also be able to stop reminder emails from being sent.
Lawyers representing the LinkedIn members can get up to $3.3 million, per the settlement. The customers themselves can get up to $1,500 each — the amount will be calculated based on how many LinkedIn users file claims.
The settlement affects LinkedIn members who used the site’s “Add Connections” feature between September 17, 2011 and October 31, 2014
If there are so many approved claims that the award to each customer would be less than $10, then LinkedIn will put forward another $750,000.
The suit was brought against the company in 2013.
LinkedIn members who used the “Add Connections” feature were upset that address book contacts they’d requested to connect with had received multiple reminder emails.
While the members had agreed to send an initial email inviting the contact to connect, they weren’t aware that up to two reminder emails would be sent to the contact.
Affected LinkedIn members have until December 14 to submit a claim form to be included in the settlement. They must attest to the fact that they used “Add Connections” to import contacts and send emails to one or more contacts during the specified time frame.
“Ultimately, we decided to resolve this case so that we can put our focus where it matters most: finding additional ways to improve our members’ experiences on LinkedIn,” the company said in a statement.
