LinkedIn might actually owe you money for all those annoying emails

LinkedIn
(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Want proof that the onslaught of LinkedIn emails crashing your inbox is just as annoying as you always thought? Here it is: LinkedIn has agreed to pay users $13 million to settle a class-action lawsuit over what Gizmodo describes as an "endless torrent" of emails and the professional networking site's "overzealous email habits."

Because LinkedIn sent oh so many emails that name-checked people you might know, many users thought the barrage of emails "made them look needy (the email mentions your contact's name no less than five times), which is why they launched a class-action suit against the company," Engadget says.

So, if you were a member of LinkedIn's "add connections" program between September 2011 and October 2014 — and the subject line: "Hi, I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn" — is seared into your memory, you may very well be eligible to get some money for the hassle of clicking delete so many times.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Granted, the payout will likely only be about $10 — and hopefully the end of all those emails.

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us