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Notable lawsuits against Verizon you should understand

All About Verizon Wireless Lawsuits

Learn what Verizon Wireless lawsuits are out there, and how to take action…

Verizon, like many big phone and cable companies, can tough to work with if you have a major complaint about your service or your bill.9 lawsuits against Verizon you should know about.

If you have already tried all of the options available to you, maybe it’s time to take legal action against Verizon in order to get the settlement that you deserve. Starting a Verizon lawsuit can be tricky, but there is some important information that can start you off on the right foot.


Or, you can Start a Claim against Verizon now


1

Are lawsuits allowed against Verizon?

Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as “yes” or “no”. The answer is: “it’s complicated.”

Why is it complicated?

Because, as with many other internet service providers, Verizon tries their best to ensure that their best interests are considered. Your Verizon subscriber agreement will often include language saying that you cannot sue them in most types of legal courts.

However, that doesn’t mean you can’t take any action. Consumers will always have the option to either take Verizon to a small claims court, or to file a consumer arbitration claim against them even if they can’t get involved in Verizon lawsuits.

Consumer arbitration is often the better option. It’s also the one we can help with!

Watch: How to File an Official Claim

2

What is a Class Action Lawsuit? Can I file a Class Action Lawsuit against Verizon?

Class Action lawsuits are meant for a group of people who have the same complaint to lodge it under a single lawsuit, rather than hundreds or perhaps thousands of individual lawsuits all about the same thing.

The problem is, if you’re a Verizon customer, you often won’t have the option to file or join a class action Verizon lawsuits.

Because of your Verizon contract, there is usually specific wording that prevents you from jumping into any Class Action that you find or starting a new one. This is a relatively recent change, and the story of why can be an interesting read.

The following Verizon lawsuits are usually lawsuits against Verizon filed by a government entity (which have more legal options than consumers), long-running older lawsuits, or corporate disputes involving Verizon.

So what can you do if you aren’t a government entity or corporation, but you still have problems with Verizon?

We can help.

At FairShake, we’re reinventing the Verizon lawsuits process. Verizon complaints are common, and many consumers often have the same questions regarding their legal rights with the company. Rather than going after a Verizon Class Action suit — which is usually not even possible — we’ll file a personalized legal document with the company, and guide you through the legal process.


Start Your Own Claim in Under 10 Minutes


3

As a Verizon customer, what are my options for a lawsuit?

There a bunch of ways to make a claim against Verizon, including with the FCC or your credit card provider.

But your legal options typically involve one of two paths:

  • You can sue Verizon in Small Claims Court, but if you opt for that you will have to pay small claims court fees and attend a court hearing.

  • Or, you can do everything from your home. Consumer Arbitration is the process laid out by Verizon’s contract and it is meant to be a replacement for a lawsuit. With consumer arbitration you can argue your case before an independent arbitrator (like a judge) who can force them to fix the problem and to compensate you. We at FairShake help make this process easy and convenient.


Start Your Claim Now


4

Nine recent and notable Verizon lawsuits:

Verizon Lawsuit over Throttling First Responders

Verizon was sued last year in a Verizon lawsuit when they were accused of throttling internet speeds for firefighters who were taking on the San Jose fires in California, per NBC Bay Area:

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said Thursday that the city will join a lawsuit filed Monday against the Federal Communications Commission by Santa Clara County, its fire department and over two dozen other parties supporting net neutrality after Verizon allegedly cut internet speeds for firefighters battling the Mendocino Complex fire.

Verizon apologized in a statement Friday, saying:

“First responders put themselves on the line each and every day. And every day, we are eternally grateful for their bravery and efforts.

In supporting first responders in the Mendocino fire, we didn’t live up to our own promise of service and performance excellence when our process failed some first responders on the line, battling a massive California wildfire. For that, we are truly sorry. And we’re making every effort to ensure that it never happens again.”

Verizon Lawsuit in Pennsylvania

According to The Verge, the Pennsylvania Attorney General recently filed a Verizon lawsuit for the company’s failure to deliver on their promise of free Amazon Echo devices:

Verizon is facing a lawsuit from the Pennsylvania attorney general, after customers accused the company of failing to let them redeem a promotional offer for a free Amazon Echo.

According to the suit, which was brought against the company this week by Attorney General Josh Shapiro, the company offered prospective customers a free Echo, and in some cases an Amazon Prime membership, if they signed up for a two-year contract.

Verizon sent an email to customers where they could redeem the offer after signing into a Verizon account, but after logging in, they weren’t redirected to a site where they could then claim the promotion, according to the complaint.

Verizon Lawsuit from Employee in California

Customers aren’t the only ones who choose to file lawsuits against Verizon. Per ClassAction.org, one California employee of Verizon is suing the company over misleading them about working hours:

A Verizon employee has filed a proposed class action lawsuit against the company and Cellco Partnership, i.e. Verizon Wireless, over alleged violations of California’s labor code.

At the heart of the case are allegations that the defendants failed to correctly identify the total number of hours worked by proposed class members. The plaintiff, who the complaint says has worked for the defendants since March 2018, alleges in particular that Verizon and Cellco failed to properly identify the applicable rate of pay and number of hours worked in instances where employees were paid “FLSA True Up” wages, i.e. money used by companies to settle debts with workers related to outstanding wages or in the event a transition occurs between two entities.

[…]

The lawsuit looks to cover a proposed class of all current and former Verizon and Cellco Partnership employees in California who received wage statements from the companies any time between September 4, 2017, and the present.

Verizon Lawsuit over Location Data Selling

Sometimes, multiple phone and internet companies get busted all at once, such as this Verizon lawsuit described by Mashable:

The four major wireless telecommunication companies in the U.S. have just been hit with massive class action lawsuit.

The suit claims that AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile all violated customers’ privacy by sharing their data to third party brokers. In turn, these brokers would then sell the data to bounty hunters, bail bondsmen, debt collectors, and middlemen.

The complaint alleges that the four biggest U.S. mobile carriers violated federal communications law by sharing phone numbers, geolocation data, and other account information. The class action covers approximately 300 million customers ranging from April 30, 2015 and February 15, 2019 spread out between the four companies.

Verizon Lawsuit Finally Resolved

An old Verizon lawsuit was resolved a couple of years ago, after the company was accused of overcharging customers under their FamilyShare plan:

On October 13, 2014, a settlement was reached with Verizon Wireless in a class action lawsuit claiming that Verizon Wireless improperly: (1) billed Family SharePlan customers whose plans provided for different per-minute rates for “after-allowance” minutes used by different phone lines; and (2) charged Family SharePlan customers for “In-Network” or “In-Family” calling when these calls should have been free under the customers’ plans. Verizon Wireless disputed these claims.

On March 30, 2015, the District Court granted final approval to the proposed settlement.

[…]

February 27, 2017: Checks (will be) mailed to all class members who are no longer Verizon Wireless customers.

Verizon Lawsuit on Racism Claims

Sadly, not all work environments are safe, or inclusive. Daily Voice has this story of a Verizon employee who sued the company under claims of racism:

An African-American Verizon worker has filed a lawsuit against the company and her colleagues after she said she found a noose made of wires over her work area in Madison.

Marisa Powell, 50, says her colleagues — mostly comprised of white males — had been harassing her for several months before she made the discovery in February, NJ.com reports .

Powell, a 30-year Verizon employee and network technician, sought help from her supervisors and Verizon’s human resources department repeatedly, and apparently futility, her attorney Robert R. Fuggi Jr. was quoted saying in the article.

“After the harassment, discrimination and intimidation rose to the level of a noose hung above her workspace,” said Fuggi, “Ms. Powell realized that litigation was her only option.”

Verizon Lawsuit on Fraudulent Charges

The New York Post has this story of a lawyer who sued Verizon for putting fraudulent charges on his monthly bill. Follow-ups show that the case was sent to consumer arbitration (which is something that FairShake can help with!):

Verizon knowingly bills its customers for fraudulent charges until they complain, according to a new class-action lawsuit.

Brooklyn lawyer and plaintiff Lowell Sidney told The Post that he uncovered the money-grubbing tactic after noticing that his usual $150 monthly Verizon bills had skyrocketed to as much as $230.

Since he’d enabled Autopay, he didn’t catch the abnormally high charges for about five months. When he finally called Verizon, he was directed to its Fraud Services Department, according to his Brooklyn federal suit.

[…]

Sidney’s suit says that “when [he] inquired about Verizon’s failure to notify him of this deception, Fraud Services stated that it was not Verizon’s corporate policy to notify their customers about potential or detected fraud.”

Verizon Lawsuit Against Phillipstown, NY

On some occasions, Verizon will be the one to sue; for instance, if their corporate plans are interfered with by local governments. Inside Towers reports:

Verizon and Homeland Towers are suing Phillipstown, NY government for denying a permit for a 180-foot cell tower. Neighbors opposing the tower, had their request to intervene in the lawsuit rejected by a federal judge, The Highlands Current reported.

Judge Vincent Briccetti of the U.S. District Court for Southern New York released his ruling on December 17, 2018, saying the neighbors, “fail to show they have an interest the defendants [town officials] will not adequately protect.”

The Zoning and Conservation Boards denied the permit one year ago, meaning that the neighbors and local government are “aligned” on the issue. According to Judge Briccetti, since the neighbors cannot demonstrate that a main party in the lawsuit is mishandling the case or show evidence of “collusion, adversity of interest, nonfeasance, or incompetence,” they cannot legally intervene.

Verizon Lawsuit for Unpaid Wages

A number of Verizon employees have sued the company due to not being paid for hours worked, per Stephan Zouras LLP:

On December 7, 2018, Stephan Zouras LLP filed a class and collective class action lawsuit against Verizon Communications, Inc. and Cellco Partnership d/b/a Verizon Wireless (“Verizon”) for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act and the Illinois Minimum Wage Law.

The Plaintiffs claim Verizon knew that its phone-based customer service and sales employees routinely perform about an hour of unpaid “off-the-clock” pre-shift, meal break and post-shift work each day.

[…]

Plaintiffs claim they cannot do this work “on-the-clock” because Verizon’s “adherence” policy requires them to create daily time records that strictly follow their scheduled daily hours.

Ready to start a claim against Verizon? FairShake can help submit your official notice of dispute in 10 minutes or less. Start now for free.

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