CenturyLink – MDL 17-2795 - In re: CenturyLink Sales Practices and Securities Litigation
This multidistrict litigation consolidates for pretrial purposes all federal cases arising out of alleged deceptive sales practices by telecommunications company CenturyLink, Inc. Plaintiffs are consumers and investors. Defendants are CenturyLink, Inc., and CenturyLink, Inc., executives.
In the federal court system, when multiple cases involving common questions of fact are pending in several different district courts, the law provides that the Judicial Panel on Multi District Litigation ("JPML") can transfer all of the federal cases to one federal judge, if centralization will serve the convenience of the parties and the witnesses and promote the just and efficient conduct of the litigation for pretrial purposes.
On October 5, 2017 and February 1, 2018, the JPML determined that these actions involve common questions of fact "arising from allegations that defendants, a family of telecommunications companies, have engaged in a range of deceptive or otherwise improper practices, such as billing subscribers for telephone lines or services that the subscribers did not request, billing subscribers higher rates than the rates quoted during sales calls, imposing early termination fees when subscribers cancelled the services due to the higher-than-quoted rates, charging for periods of service before the service was connected or products received, and failing to process subscribers' service cancellation requests in a timely manner." The JPML also found that "centralization will eliminate duplicative discovery, prevent inconsistent pretrial rulings on class certification and other pretrial matters, and conserve the resources of the parties, their counsel, and the judiciary."
Plaintiffs in these consolidated cases fall into two categories: consumers and investors. Each group raises some claims that are similar to the claims made by the other group; each also raises claims that are distinct from claims made by the other group. For that reason, the Court appointed Lead counsel for each of the two groups of Plaintiffs to coordinate among all of the lawyers representing parties in these actions throughout the United States. Please view the Contacts page for more information.