Man sues Rays over promotional text messages that 'wasted his time'

A Florida man has filed a lawsuit against the Tampa Bay Rays for sending him unwanted texts.

Chad Fernandez says he started receiving "unsolicited promotional" SMS messages from Tampa Bay Rays Baseball Ltd., including texts about Opening Day and Star Wars Night, according to WTSP.

In the lawsuit, Fernandez states that the texts "invaded his privacy, intruded upon his seclusion and solitude, constituted a nuisance, and wasted his time by requiring him to delete the messages." He also says the texts caused him to "incur tangible harms such as loss of cellphone battery life and financial losses in requiring him to recharge his phone."

Fernandez is seeking up to $1,500 in damages, and $500 for every text that he says violated policies in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

In an email to WTSP, a Rays spokesperson said, "We don't have any comment. Thank you."

Another man filed a federal lawsuit against the Rays earlier in 2018 over "unsolicited SMS activity," claiming the team violated Federal Communications Commission rules.