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Comcast Subscriber Allowed to Pursue Antitrust Class Action Lawsuit
By Mike Holter
A Comcast customer who sued the company for antitrust violations has won the right to pursue a class action lawsuit against Comcast despite signing an arbitration clause. The ruling follows a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in April 2011 that upheld a class action waiver clause in AT&T’s contracts. Based on this ruling, Comcast tried to force the customer to arbitrate his claim individually, but lost its bid when U.S. District Judge Stefan Underhill ruled it would be too costly for the customer.
The Comcast ruling, reached August 21, 2012, is good news for consumers who are forced into arbitration clauses in service contracts. Since the AT&T ruling, more and more companies are requiring consumers and employees to arbitrate their disputes individually to avoid costly class action lawsuits.
In the Comcast case, Comcast subscriber Robert Fromer filed a class action lawsuit in 2009 accusing the company of violating U.S. antitrust laws by unlawfully bundling digital voice service with a modem. The bundling forced subscribers to pay a rental fee for the modem, even if they didn’t need it, the class action lawsuit said.
Comcast sought to dismiss the class action lawsuit and force Fromer to bring his claims to arbitration, citing clauses in his subscriber agreement.
Judge Underhill denied the motion on Tuesday, saying the cost of arbitration would outweigh any recovery Fromer would receive. Underhill said Fromer would probably only recover $1 for every $202 he spent in litigation and recover damages of up to $495.
“Therefore, because the class action waiver in this case effectively precludes Fromer from pursuing federal statutory remedies, the class arbitration waiver is void,” Underhill wrote.
A similar ruling was made in February 2012 by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled American Express could not use arbitration clauses to avoid and antitrust class action lawsuit filed by merchant customers.
The Comcast Antitrust Class Action Lawsuit case is Fromer v. Comcast Corp., Case No. 9-cv-2076, U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut.
Updated August 24th, 2012
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4 thoughts onComcast Subscriber Allowed to Pursue Antitrust Class Action Lawsuit
comcast stated and most likely has been charging fees for 2 digital adapters since we cancelled their services because of their outrageous fees, we stopped the service entirely. They say we owe them $80.00 for two digital adapters, which I had to google images to see what they are, i don’t believe we ever recieved these, we certainly never used them nor needed them. Why on earth did they send them? How do they legally get away with supposedly sending something unsolicited, etc stating they are free, then they decide to charge a fee monthly for their use, whether you are using them or not, then charge you when you turn everything back in except those which you didn’t to your knowledge ever receive? I am sad not everyone collectively didn’t cancel them… this economy will change some minds, for sure… I’ll look into my legal options.. I don’t take too kindly to having my money stolen….
Is there a current class action suit against Comcast? If not, there should be. Each month I spend hours reconciling my bill with them. They add and duplicate charges in hopes the customer will not notice. They are total scammers. They don’t tell you about charges until the service has been provided. Sign me up !!
Every month listed on my (Internet ONLY) bill are charges for Telephone & Television. I MUST continue to this to “SAVE $$’s” on my “Special Pricing Package”. Sign me up!!!
How do you become part of the Comcast Lawsuit?