T-Mobile is in legal hot water for allegedly failing to protect consumers from unwanted text messages. This is the last thing the German-owned telecom company needs.

The company, which has struggled for years to gain traction in the U.S., now must deal with a costly and potentially embarrassing class-action lawsuit. According to CNET.com, a federal judge has refused to throw the case out, which will force T-Mobile to shell out big bucks in a settlement.

Other telecom companies and consumer groups will watch the case closely. For one thing, text message costs are skyrocketing and show no signs of slowing. This is particularly galling since people pay for all incoming text messages.

"Since 2005, rates to send and receive text messages on all four major carrier networks have doubled from 10 cents to 20 cents per message," Slashdot.org noted recently. '"If the same pricing was applied on a per-byte basis to a single MP3 song download, it would set you back almost $24,000 according to one estimate."

T-Mobile appears particularly vulnerable to the suit since unlike other telecom companies it does not offer the ability to block all text messages though people do have access to filtering software. Consumers faced the choice of either leaving the carrier and paying a $175 termination fee or absorbing the costs, according to plaintiff's attorneys.

"This ruling is a big win for T-Mobile customers and we're looking forward to presenting our case to the court," said Steve Berman, managing partner of Hagens Berman, the law firm representing plaintiffs, told RCRWireless.

No doubt the lawyers will get a nice payday as well.