Mediation fails in T-Mobile class action over alleged misleading Sprint merger

T-Mobile class action overview: 

• Who: Mediation failed in a class action lawsuit between T-Mobile and individually owned T-Mobile distribution stores.  
• Why: The store owners claim T-Mobile misled Congress and the public about opening hundreds of stores due to the T-Mobile and Sprint merger and instead forced mostly minority-owned stores to close with little to no compensation.
• Where: T-Mobile Sprint merger lawsuit was filed in federal court in New York.

T-Mobile was not able to reach a mediated agreement in a class action lawsuit claiming it forced mostly minority-owned stores to close instead of opening hundreds of stores as it promised following the T-Mobile and Sprint merger.

The stores and T-Mobile met virtually for mediation on Dec. 18, and the plaintiffs said the parties could not come to an agreement to narrow the Sprint class action claims, according to a Jan. 2 letter to U.S. District Judge Diane Gujarati.

T-Mobile now asks for the court to proceed with its motions to dismiss, while the stores ask the court to begin full discovery now before hearing those motions.

“Some of the issues to be determined by this court upon the several proposed motions to dismiss – such as personal jurisdiction over T-Mobile and the identity of the party/parties approving lease extensions through 2027 – would be resolved if discovery is permitted,” the T-Mobile class action mediation update letter says. 

Plaintiffs request $1B in punitive damages, $100M in compensatory damages

T-Mobile allegedly conspired with master dealer Arch Telecom to close or buy the mostly minority-owned stores for little to no compensation, the Sprint class action claims.

The plaintiffs are asking for $1 billion in punitive damages and $100 million in compensatory damages plus attorneys’ fees.

“It is not corporate greed and dishonesty that the Plaintiffs challenge here,” the T-Mobile class action says. “Rather, it is T-Mobile and defendants’ blatant violations of the law which the plaintiffs seek to address through this action.”

The April 2020 merger between T-Mobile and Sprint was an anticompetitive acquisition and collectively cost U.S. small businesses and AT&T and Verizon subscribers billions of dollars, a June class action lawsuit alleges.

When was the last time you went into a T-Mobile store? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiffs are represented by John Hermina of Hermina Law Group.

The T-Mobile class action lawsuit is Digital Land Wireless, Inc. et al. v. Arch Telecom Inc., et al, Case No. 1:23-cv-01582-DG-PK, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

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