LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner admitted in May that the social networking site was guilty of “sending too much email” to some users. “That needs to be corrected and improved, and it will be,” he told Buzzfeed. On Friday, LinkedIn announced that it will be paying some of its members up to $1,500 each after settling a $13 million class-action lawsuit for sending out too many emails related to one of the website’s services.
As NBC Chicago reports, the lawsuit was aimed at LinkedIn's “Add Connections” service that lets users import contacts from their email accounts and send invitations to connect on the site. The suit claims, however, that LinkedIn repeatedly "spammed" those contacts with unwanted emails.
According to the lawsuit, LinkedIn members did not consent to the additional emails when they chose to use the feature. LinkedIn said in an email to users Friday that anyone who used the service between Sept. 17, 2011, and Oct. 31, 2014, is eligible to file a claim. The filing deadline is Dec. 14.
The amount that each user will receive will depend on how many people come forward, but LinkedIn said each person could earn up to $1,500. (This amount will likely be much less, however.)
