Filed Date: April 23, 2015
Closed Date: 2018
Clearinghouse coding complete
On April 23, 2015, a group of inmates in the Pennsylvania correctional facilities filed this class action lawsuit in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The plaintiffs sued Global Tel*Link Corporation ("GTL") under the Federal Communications Act (the "FCA"), 47 U.S.C. §§201,206,207 and 276, and Pennsylvania law. They alleged that GTL participated in unjust, unreasonable, unfair and deceptive conduct from January 1, 2000 through the present (the "Class Period") by charging exorbitant rates and fees - up to 100 times normal market rates for intrastate telephone calls to and from inmates pursuant to exclusive contracts with correctional facilities throughout the United States. GTL and its subsidiaries serve over 2,200 correctional facilities and 1.1 million inmates in forty-eight states. The plaintiffs sought certification of this action as a class action and declaratory and monetary relief.
The plaintiffs alleged that GTL created a monopoly through exclusive contracts with thousands of correctional facilities, and therefore faces little or no market competition to challenge its intrastate telephone rates. Furthermore, the plaintiffs alleged that in return for this monopoly power, GTL provided kickbacks to the contracting facilities. Reports have estimated that the kickbacks paid to correctional facilities exceed $124 million per year.
During rule-making proceedings, the Federal Communications Commission (the "FCC") looked at whether intrastate charges were unreasonably high, unfair, and far in excess of the cost of providing service. The FCC concluded that they were, and that GTL had exploited their economic position by charging rates for intrastate calls greatly exceeding the cost of providing service, in direct violation of Sections 201 and 276 of the FCA that those rates be just, reasonable, and fair.
On October 23, 2015, Plaintiffs' filed a motion to transfer the proceedings to the Western District of Arkansas to join a related pending cases against GTL. That motion was granted on May 31, 2016. Once transferred, the case was consolidated with Chruby et al. v. Global Tel*Link Corporation by Judge Timothy L. Brooks.
Once consolidated, the Plaintiffs' motion for class certification was considered and denied by Judge Brooks, citing aspects of the cases brought that required overwhelmingly claimant-specific factual analysis. Plaintiffs' filed an appeal on this question to the US Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals on October 12, 2017, and the petition was denied and October 27, 2018.
The case was dismissed with prejudice on August 27, 2018.
Summary Authors
Rachel June-Graber (10/4/2015)
Edward Cullen (11/29/2018)
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/5288450/parties/reese-v-global-tellink-corporation/
Brooks, Timothy Lloyd (Arkansas)
McLaughlin, Mary A. (Pennsylvania)
Sánchez, Juan Ramon (Pennsylvania)
Berger, Daniel (Pennsylvania)
Brown, Benjamin D. (District of Columbia)
Burke, Susan L. (District of Columbia)
Ciolko, Edward W. (Pennsylvania)
Galloway, Monique Myatt (Pennsylvania)
Howard, Patrick (Pennsylvania)
Kahana, Peter R. (Pennsylvania)
Brooks, Timothy Lloyd (Arkansas)
McLaughlin, Mary A. (Pennsylvania)
Sánchez, Juan Ramon (Pennsylvania)
Berger, Daniel (Pennsylvania)
Brown, Benjamin D. (District of Columbia)
Burke, Susan L. (District of Columbia)
Ciolko, Edward W. (Pennsylvania)
Galloway, Monique Myatt (Pennsylvania)
Howard, Patrick (Pennsylvania)
Kahana, Peter R. (Pennsylvania)
Martin, Amy C. (Arkansas)
Moffa, Donna Siegel (Pennsylvania)
Muhic, Peter A. (Pennsylvania)
Paris, Simon B. (Pennsylvania)
Trask, Amanda R. (Pennsylvania)
Twersky, Michael Y. (Pennsylvania)
Feeney, Brian T. (Pennsylvania)
Herrington, Robert J. (California)
Ho, Derek Tam (District of Columbia)
Sklaire, Michael R. (Virginia)
Braun, Robert Abraham (New York)
Jones, Samantha E. (Pennsylvania)
Ney, Steven (Maryland)
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/5288450/reese-v-global-tellink-corporation/
Last updated May 12, 2022, 8 p.m.
State / Territory: Pennsylvania
Case Type(s):
Key Dates
Filing Date: April 23, 2015
Closing Date: 2018
Case Ongoing: No
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
Inmates at Pennsylvania correctional facilities.
Plaintiff Type(s):
Public Interest Lawyer: No
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: Yes
Class Action Outcome: Denied
Defendants
Global Tel*Link Corporation (GTL) , Private Entity/Person
Case Details
Availably Documents:
Outcome
Prevailing Party: Defendant
Nature of Relief:
Source of Relief:
Issues
General:
Affected Gender:
Type of Facility: