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Table of Contents:
 FCC Expected to Propose New Roaming Rules
AT&T/Cingular Customers Can File Class Action
N.Y. Agency Wants Sprint Nextel To Pay Booted Customers
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AT&T/Cingular Customers Can File Class Action
Last week, the Washington state Supreme Court ruled that companies do not have the right to prohibit customers from filing a class action lawsuit just because they sign a waiver in a contract prohibiting such actions.
The case involved Cingular Wireless and five of its customers who filed the class action suit over alleged improper billing. The charges in question ranged from $1 to $45. Although the plaintiffs admit that no individual consumer suffered a significant loss, they claim that in the aggregate, Cingular unilaterally overcharged the public by very large sums of money. The particular ruling did not address the merits of the plaintiffs’ claims, but determined that they did have the right to sue in the form of a class action suit. The court’s rationale was that if consumers did not have the ability to bring suit in a class action format, it would violate the public policy goals of the Consumer Protection Act.
Consumer groups see the ruling as a significant victory, and not just for consumers of telecom services but across several industry sectors. Consumer groups point to the fact that all major wireless providers prohibit class action clauses in their contracts, and this particular practice exists in other industries ranging from automobiles to credit cards.
In fact, other industries took direct interest in the case: Microsoft, RealNetworks, Amazon.com and Intel all filed amicus or “friend of the court” briefs on behalf of Cingular.
The original case stems from a ruling in 2004 involving several consumers who sued Cingular in King County Superior Court in Seattle. The consumers claimed that they had signed a contract under which they wouldn’t be charged for roaming, yet roaming charges showed up on their bills anyway. The judge in the case denied the class action and ruled that the plaintiffs would have to seek arbitration to settle their complaints, because they had signed a contract waiving their right to bring a class action suit. As an alternative to class actions, companies such as AT&T/Cingular provide consumers the option of arbitration or small claims court to settle a dispute and will pay arbitration costs if the suit is found to have merit.
Comments and feedback welcome, please email Jill Morgan at jmorgan@billingworld.com.
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