SiriusXM Invoice Fee Class Action Lawsuit

SiriusXM Invoice Fee Class Action Lawsuit

By Matt O’Donnell

A federal class action lawsuit filed last week accuses SiriusXM Radio Inc. of illegally charging “hundreds of thousands” of subscribers a $2 invoice administrative fee in violation of their subscription agreements.  

Plaintiffs Alvin Kaufman and Richard Laluna allege in the SiriusXM class action lawsuit that the subscription agreement states that customers will be charged a $2 invoice administration fee if they pay with a check or money order. However, Sirius has been improperly charging this fee to annual renewals paid by credit card, debit card or prepaid Sirius or XM subscription charge, the class action lawsuit says.

“Sirius was well aware of this improper charge and yet it neither informed its subscribers of the nature of the charge nor offered a refund of the administration fees or adequate compensation once it became apparent to Sirius that the invoice was paid by a means other than check or money order or simply not paid by check or money order,” the class action lawsuit states.

This is the second time Kaufman, a Nevada resident, and Laluna, a New York resident, have sued Sirius over the fees and attempted to hold the company liable for breach of contract and violations of New York’s deceptive practices law.

Their first case, filed in November 2009, was tossed out a year later when U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero ruled the law only applied to New York subscribers. Accepting Kaufman’s and Laluna’s argument that subscribers living outside of New York should be covered by the law because the invoice fee transactions occurred in New York “would permit global coverage of [the deceptive practices law] any time a New York corporation charged and retained an improper fee from non-New York consumers through use of deception,” an appeals court said.

The plaintiffs’ revised class action lawsuit states the terms and conditions of the subscription agreement provides that “all disputes would be resolved in state and federal courts in New York” under the laws of the state and the FCC.

The revised SiriusXM invoice fee class action lawsuit, filed on February 6, 2013, is brought on behalf of two classes: all current and former New York SiriusXM subscribers and all current and former subscribers in other states who were improperly charged an invoice administration fee.

It is seeking a permanent injunction, money damages, and more.

The SiriusXM Invoice Fee Class Action Lawsuit case is Kaufman v. Sirius XM Radio Inc., Index No. 650420/2013, in the Supreme Court of New York, County of New York.

Kaufman and Laluna are represented by D. Michael Campbell; David B. Misheal; Valentina M. Tejera, Curtis J. Mase and Richard D. Lara of Mase Lara Eversole; and Daniel A. Osborn of Osborn Law PC.

Updated February 11th, 2013

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